WEFTEC 99 Heads to New Orleans

The Water Environment Federations annual Technical Conference will feature 25 preconference workshops and more than 80 technical sessions with over 500 relevant presentations on wastewater treatment and water quality subjects over the course of five days in early October.

Topics to be covered during the conference include municipal wastewater treatment, facility operations, collection system operation and maintenance, utility management, groundwater remediation, watershed management, water reuse, biological monitoring, federal regulations and more.

More than 700 exhibitors are expected for the WEFTEC 99, which will be held Oct. 9-13 in the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. Exhibitors will display the latest equipment on site for demonstrations and will be on hand to answer technical and purchasing questions.

In addition to the extensive technical program and sprawling product and equipment exposition, the conference will feature an Industry Day dedicated to industrial issues; Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) activities; the intense skills competition of Operations Challenge 99; poster presentations; facility tours; student activities, and more.

At the WEF Distinguished Honors and Awards Ceremony on Oct. 12, 1998-99 WEF President Rhonda Harris of Texas will "pass the gavel" of Federation leadership to incoming 1999-2000 President Al Goodman of Indiana.

John Briscoe, Senior Water Advisor at the World Bank, will be the Opening Session speaker on Oct. 11. Briscoe oversees all of the World Banks programs in water resources, irrigation, hydropower, water environment, and water and sanitation. Paul Simon, former United States Senator from Illinois, will address participants at the WEFTEC Luncheon on Oct. 11. Simon, who recently wrote the book "Tapped Out: The Coming World Crisis in Water and What We Can Do About It," is director of the Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Topics to be covered during the conference include municipal wastewater treatment, facility operations, collection system operation and maintenance, utility management, groundwater remediation, watershed management, water reuse, biological monitoring, federal regulations and more.