Land Application System

Dalton Utilities operates one of the nation's largest (and Georgia's largest) land application systems (LAS), which distributes treated wastewater over its 9,200-acre site. This forested system, in addition to treating and recycling wastewater, has the added benefit of creating a wildlife habitat. Each year, birdwatchers and environmentalists from around the state come to see the many hawks, wild turkey, rare birds, deer and coyote that populate the LAS's 9,200 acres.

The Dalton Utilities LAS is recognized as being a pioneer in this innovative technology that allows treated wastewater to be recycled through natural means rather than discharged directly into surface waters. The facility, located in South Whitfield county and a portion of northern Murray County, sprays treated wastewater over plant life and soils for further treatment and cleansing as opposed to traditional wastewater treatment, which releases treated wastewater back to surface waters. The LAS is beneficial to the environment because wastewater is being filtered through the soil and plant matrix.

The LAS was built in 1986 when land application was an innovative approach to wastewater management. As with most new technologies, many changes and improvements have been made to land application treatment systems since 1986. In 1997, a redesign and expansion of the Dalton Utilities LAS was undertaken. The project cost $26 million and took less than two years to complete. The redesign of the LAS included new piping, sprayheads and pumping system to the sprayfields. Additionally, the entire layout of the LAS was redesigned with topography in mind for optimal utilization of the available land

Dalton Utilities' redesigned and improved land application system is considered a 'model' facility by its contemporaries in wastewater treatment and is often toured by engineers and staff of other land application facilities.