Dalton Utilities receives top state honors at industry conference

Published 12:03 am Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Dalton Utilities was recently recognized with five awards at the Georgia Association of Water Professionals’ (GAWP) Spring Conference.

According to association Executive Director Pamela Burnett, “These are highly competitive awards, and keep the bar high for performance of facilities and water professionals across Georgia. Following a rigorous inspection and evaluation, Dalton’s water and wastewater plants scored highest in their size category, and were presented with Plant of the Year awards. It is remarkable for one utility to achieve so many top GAWP awards in one year. This level of accomplishment reflects the outstanding quality of services provided to this community.”

One of the five awards included the 2017 Top Operator Award for District 1 Wastewater Collection System Operator. This was awarded to Ken Helton, a Dalton Utilities wastewater collection crew leader who joined the utility in 1998. He is certified by the state in wastewater collection and water distribution. The Top Op Awards are conferred annually to water and wastewater employees who have demonstrated consistent and outstanding contributions to their profession.

As a crew leader, Helton provides leadership to Dalton Utilities’ scout truck crew which responds to customer complaints, facilitates confined space-related work, inspects creek crossings, executes monthly inspections of manholes and the cleaning of high maintenance sewer services/mains and easement inspections/maintenance. He is also a crew leader on the standby emergency wastewater and water crews.

Five of Dalton Utilities’ Water Treatment and Wastewater Treatment facilities were honored with GAWP’s prestigious 2017 Plant of the Year awards which recognize excellence in facility operations and staff. These awards included:

• Best Operated Water Plant of the Year — Surface Water 50 MGD (million gallons daily) or greater: V.D. Parrott Jr. Water Filtration Plant

• Best Operated Water Plant of the Year — Surface Water 9 MGD through 14.99 MGD: Mill Creek Water Treatment Plant

• Best Operated Water Plant of the Year — Surface Water 1 MGD through 2.99 MGD: Freeman Springs Water Treatment Plant

• Best Operated Water Reclamation Plant of the Year — less than 1 MGD Advanced Treatment: Mill Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant

• Best Operated Water Reclamation Plant of the Year — Greater than 10 MGD Non Discharging: Loopers Wastewater Treatment Plant

The association is Georgia’s largest professional water and wastewater organization with more than 5,000 members involved in every aspect of water management and protection.