7:01pm | The American Water Works Association, an international, nonprofit scientific and educational society dedicated to the improvement of drinking water quality and supply, is holding its joint water conference at the Long Beach Convention Center March 28 – 31.
Approximately 2,000 water industry professionals will converge upon the city to attend the AWWA‘s Membrane Technology Conference and Exposition as well as its California-Nevada Section Spring Conference, which are being jointly held next week.
“Long Beach is the perfect location to host our nation’s water experts for a four-day collaborative discussion about water,” said Mayor Bob Foster. “Not only is Long Beach a leader in water conservation, but our city recently operated the nation’s largest federally funded seawater desalination research and development project of its kind. We have also continued to expand our recycled water system throughout the city, improving the overall reliability of our water supply.”
A Long Beach Water Department employee, Robert Chang, is a member of the 2011 conference planning committee.
The conferences will offer attendees valuable insight into a wide range of critical water related issues, including quality, safety, reliability, emergency planning and more. Organizers said that this is the first year the two conferences have been held at both the same time and location.
Among those in attendance will be water utility plant personnel; water and wastewater engineers; designers; consultants; local, state and federal regulators; researchers; and manufacturers. As part of the conference, AWWA members will take technical tours to two area water processing plants: the West Basin Ocean Water Desalination and Water Education Facility in Redondo Beach and the Orange County Water District’s
Groundwater Recharge System Facility, which is the world’s largest wastewater purification system for indirect potable reuse.
Founded in 1881, AWWA and its more than 60,000 worldwide members provide knowledge, information and advocacy to improve the quality and supply of water in North America and beyond, as well as advance public health, safety and welfare by uniting the efforts of the full spectrum of the water community.