Download - Water Utility Infrastructure Management
Download - Water Utility Infrastructure Management
Download - Water Utility Infrastructure Management
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
NEWS<br />
WEFTEC 2011 Attracts<br />
Strong Crowd to Los<br />
Angeles<br />
A total of 16,961 water professionals<br />
and 923 exhibiting companies from<br />
around the world attended WEFTEC<br />
2011, the <strong>Water</strong> Environment<br />
Federation’s (WEF) 84th annual<br />
Technical Exhibition and Conference,<br />
which was held Oct. 16-19 in Los Angeles<br />
The calm before the storm – the WEFTEC<br />
Exhibit Hall just before the doors opened<br />
for attendees.<br />
The conference offered attendees<br />
their choice of more than 900 presentations<br />
in 114 technical sessions, 37 workshops,<br />
eight local facility tours, as well<br />
as several high profile events. Key sessions<br />
and workshops featured in-depth<br />
topics such as private sewer system<br />
management, innovative applications<br />
of recycled water, water infrastructure<br />
investment, recent developments in<br />
membrane bioreactor technology, and<br />
improved energy efficiency for wastewater<br />
treatment plants and processes.<br />
Of particular interest was a highpowered<br />
<strong>Water</strong> Leaders Session that<br />
featured a panel of top leaders in the<br />
water community’s consulting, finance,<br />
and public service sectors. The group<br />
shared their perspectives on water in<br />
the coming decade, including some of<br />
the anticipated challenges and innovations<br />
in policy, governance, finance,<br />
infrastructure, public safety and health,<br />
technology and R&D. Moderated by<br />
former U.S. EPA Administrator G.<br />
Tracy Mehan III (Principal of the<br />
Cadmus Group), the panel included<br />
Gretchen McClain (President of ITT<br />
Fluid and Motion Control), Laurent<br />
Auguste (President and CEO of Veolia<br />
<strong>Water</strong> North Americas), Dan McCarthy<br />
(President and CEO of Black & Veatch<br />
<strong>Water</strong>), David Gray (Managing Director<br />
of Global Industrial Services for Credit<br />
Suisse), and Jeff Eger (WEF Executive<br />
Director).<br />
Another highlight was the <strong>Utility</strong><br />
Executives Forum that examined the<br />
challenges faced by utilities during this<br />
time of economic uncertainty. Attendees<br />
heard about the outlook for the water<br />
sector as well as opportunities for innovation<br />
by using new approaches to<br />
financing, organization and technology<br />
through firsthand accounts by venture<br />
capitalist David Henderson (Managing<br />
Director of XPV Capital Corp.), Richard<br />
Fox (Chairman & CEO of Camp Dresser<br />
& McKee) and top executives representing<br />
three utilities from across the country,<br />
Tim Houghton (Executive Assistant<br />
for the City and County of Honolulu,<br />
Hawaii), Bill Gaffi (General Manager of<br />
Clean <strong>Water</strong> Services, Hillsboro, Ore.),<br />
and George Hawkins (General Manager<br />
of DC <strong>Water</strong>, Washington, D.C.).<br />
WEFTEC 2012 is scheduled for Sept.<br />
29 through Oct. 3 in New Orleans, La.<br />
NAWC President of the Board Lisa Sparrow,<br />
President and CEO of Utilities Inc., speaks at<br />
the <strong>Water</strong> Summit.<br />
La Jolla Hosts NAWC<br />
<strong>Water</strong> Summit<br />
Every day, water service companies<br />
help provide essential water and wastewater<br />
services to nearly 73 million<br />
Americans. The voice of the private<br />
water service industry is amplified by<br />
the National Association of <strong>Water</strong><br />
Companies (NAWC) that successfully<br />
hosted its annual <strong>Water</strong> Summit in La<br />
Jolla, Calif., from Oct. 2 – 5.<br />
NAWC’s Summit provided a forum<br />
for more than 350 water industry professionals<br />
to exchange ideas and share<br />
solutions that serve customers and<br />
make a difference for our nation as a<br />
whole. Speakers offered a variety of<br />
perspectives on the realities and challenges<br />
in the water utility industry, as<br />
they focused on the theme of Public<br />
Service & Private Enterprise: A<br />
Powerful Combination for Moving<br />
<strong>Water</strong> Forward.<br />
The audience listened to featured<br />
water book authors Brian Fagan, Elixir:<br />
A History of <strong>Water</strong> and Humankind;<br />
Robert Glennon, Unquenchable:<br />
America’s <strong>Water</strong> Crisis and What to do<br />
About it; Steve Maxwell, The Future of<br />
<strong>Water</strong> – A Startling Look Ahead; and<br />
David Zetland, The End of Abundance:<br />
Economic Solutions to <strong>Water</strong> Scarcity.<br />
In their books, the authors discussed<br />
how water has shaped our lives, and<br />
will continue to do so in the future.<br />
Karen Barnes, from The Shelton<br />
Group, discussed how research and<br />
social media trends suggest a shift in<br />
water customers’ expectations and<br />
interest in receiving water info. Barnes<br />
outlined a few communications strategies<br />
utilities can use to strengthen programs,<br />
and highlighted the <strong>Water</strong>Sense<br />
supported campaign “Wasting <strong>Water</strong> is<br />
Weird.”<br />
Public leaders from San Diego and<br />
Los Angeles described how they set<br />
objectives for water infrastructure and<br />
service in the face of supply challenges<br />
during the “<strong>Water</strong> is Your Business:<br />
Local Leaders on Building<br />
Partnerships” session. Maureen<br />
Stapleton, General Manager, San<br />
Diego County <strong>Water</strong> Authority, shared<br />
her beliefs on working with the private<br />
sector to achieve goals. Other summit<br />
highlights included two panels focused<br />
on financial perspectives on regulation<br />
and its impact on access to capital, a<br />
panel dedicated to leadership in the<br />
workplace, a professor who spoke<br />
about California’s water challenges,<br />
and Ned Breslin, CEO, <strong>Water</strong> For<br />
People, who emphasized today’s urgency<br />
to solve global safe water issues.<br />
Eric Thornburg, President and CEO,<br />
Connecticut <strong>Water</strong>, ceremoniously<br />
passed the gavel to the new NAWC<br />
12 <strong>Water</strong> <strong>Utility</strong> <strong>Infrastructure</strong> <strong>Management</strong><br />
November/December 2011