WEFTEC® 2011: Thousands of Water Professionals, Top Water Companies Are Expected in Los Angeles Next Month for the World’s Largest Annual Water Quality Conference and Exhibition

ALEXANDRIA, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–If it’s about water, it will be at WEFTEC 2011— the Water Environment Federation’s (WEF) 84th Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference—October 15-19 at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC). With an anticipated attendance of more than 17,000 national and international water professionals, including nearly 1,000 top water companies, the event is expected to generate more than $30 million in local revenue, making it the city’s second largest convention for this year.

As the world’s largest annual water quality event, WEFTEC 2011 will feature the latest water-related research, training, solutions and cutting-edge technologies in the field, including the following California-related events:

“Walkway to Wetlands” Community Service Project
Saturday, October 15
8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
5413 South Avalon Boulevard, Los Angeles
In coordination with the City of L.A., WEF’s Students and Young Professionals Committee has organized the “Walkway to Wetlands” community service project. Conference volunteers will help revitalize a formerly industrialized area of downtown L.A. by creating a tree-lined entrance to the city’s wetlands project that is located directly across the street from a brand new high school. Local dignitaries and WEF representatives are expected to share their vision for environmental protection and community service during the opening ceremony and groundbreaking. The project supports grassroots solutions on a local level and promotes WEF’s overall mission to preserve and enhance the global water environment while leaving a positive imprint on the host city.

Opening General Session
Monday, October 17
8:30-9:30 a.m.
Concourse Hall, LACC
The Opening General Session officially kicks-off the conference and sets the tone for the five-day event. Following a special video welcome from L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Dr. Rita Colwell, a distinguished university professor and world-renowned expert on water borne diseases, will share keynote responsibilities with Doc Henley, founder and president of the non-profit international aid organization, Wine To Water. The two keynote speakers will deliver different but complementary presentations about the vital connection between clean water and public health. The high-profile program will also feature a presentation of the WEF 2011 Public Officials Award to L.A. City Council’s President Pro Tempore Jan Perry and recognition of the 2011 U.S. and international Stockholm Junior Water Prize winner, Alison Bick. The New Jersey teenager received the prestigious youth award for her innovative cell phone app that provides a more efficient and cost effective method of testing for water quality—a useful tool for first-responders of natural and man-made disasters.

AEESP/WEF Scientists’ Luncheon: Wastewater Reclamation: Past Successes, Future Challenges, and How to Meet the Needs of the Next Decades
Monday, October 17
12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
Room 403B, Concourse, LACC
Featuring Michael K. Stenstrom, a Distinguished Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Special California Technical Sessions and Local Facility Tours
As the nation’s most populous state, California’s big thirst for water could squeeze supplies beyond capacity and have potentially devastating effects if long-term solutions are not found. The following technical sessions and local facility tours will feature presentations about proactive efforts to mitigate this problem through innovative projects in water reuse, recycled water, groundwater replenishment, and desalination.

Technical Session #26: Solving a State-Wide Water Crisis: California’s Ground-Breaking Regional Water Reuse Projects
Monday, October 17
1:30-5:00 p.m.
Room 309, LACC

Technical Session #48: Improved Operating Conditions for L.A.’s Future Indirect Potable Reuse Facility
Tuesday, October 18
11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Room 405, LACC

Monday, October 17
Facility Tour 1: L.A. County Sanitation Districts’ Joint Water Pollution Control Plant
Facility Tour 2: Collection Systems Tour: L.A. Sewer Tour – Discovering What Lies Beneath

Tuesday, October 18
Facility Tour 3: City of L.A.’s Terminal Island Water Reclamation Plant
Facility Tour 4: Orange County Sanitation District’s Reclamation Plant #1 and Orange County Water District’s Groundwater Replenishment System Advance Purification Facility
Facility Tour 5: City of Santa Monica’s Charlock Well Field Restoration Project
Facility Tour 6: City of L.A.’s Hyperion Treatment Plant

Wednesday, October 19
Facility Tour 7: Stormwater Management Tour: Green Stormwater Infrastructure
Facility Tour 8: West Basin Municipal Water District’s Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility

Operations Challenge Skills Competition: Bringing Wastewater Treatment to the Surface
Monday & Tuesday, October 17-18
9:15 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
South Hall, LACC
More than 200 of the world’s best and brightest wastewater treatment professionals will compete in Operations Challenge 2011, a unique, fun and fast-paced skills competition for wastewater operations and maintenance. Four teams from California, including the much lauded L.A. Wrecking Crew (Vallejo, Calif.), will compete against 34 top regional teams from across the U.S. and Canada in five events—collection systems, laboratory, process control, maintenance and safety— that are designed to test the diverse skills required for the operation and maintenance of wastewater treatment facilities, their collection systems, and laboratories.

Note to editors: Complimentary registration is available for credentialed media representatives. For more information and interview requests, please contact Lori Harrison at lharrison@wef.org or 703-216-8565. For full program and event details, please visit www.weftec.org.

About WEF
Formed in 1928, the Alexandria, Va.-based Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with 36,000 individual members and 75 affiliated Member Associations representing water quality professionals around the world. WEF and its Member Associations proudly work to achieve our mission of preserving and enhancing the global water environment. www.wef.org