• Sunday, October 19
• Monday, October 20
• Tuesday, October 21

Environmental Engineering ABET/EAC Evaluator Training and Education Workshop
Presented by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers
Sunday, October 19
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Ticket Cost: $150

This workshop is designed for program evaluators, faculty, department chairs and other University personnel.  Course registration of $150 includes breakfast, lunch, breaks and copies of course materials.  For more information contact AAEE at (410) 266-3311.   To register, use the WEFTEC Registration Form, which will be available on April 7th.

WERF/WEFTEC.08 Golf Tournament
8:00 am Shotgun Start
George Dunne National Golf Course, Oak Forest
Ticket Cost:  $130

The entry fee includes a continental breakfast, range balls, golf, cart, prizes, unlimited beverages and lunch.  Bus transportation will be provided from key convention hotels.  All proceeds will benefit the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF), a nonprofit organization that helps preserve the water environment and protect human health by providing science and technology research to enhance management of our water resources.  Please visit our Golf Tournament page for additional details and registration information.

Water For People Activities 2008
Transforming Lives Through Water
Sunday, October 19

Water For People is an international nonprofit organization that helps people in developing countries improve their quality of life by supporting the development of locally sustainable drinking water resources, sanitation facilities and health and hygiene education programs.  Water For People envisions a world where all people have access to safe drinking water and sanitation; a world where no one suffers or dies from a water- or sanitation-related disease.

Bicycle Ride Along Lake Michigan
Organized and Planned by Volunteers to benefit Water For People
Sunday, October 19
9:00 am – 12:00 noon
Lakeshore Drive Bikeway
Cost: $50/$70 (see below)

Attention bicycling enthusiasts! Join other WEFTEC attendees as they pedal to raise awareness and funds to support Water For People. You will bike past museums and parks, and enjoy great views of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan. WEF members and guests of all cycling abilities are encouraged to join in the ride. The group will be divided into several groups based on riding ability and speed.  There will be a rest stop with sports drinks and water at the halfway point and the end. The course will be 18 miles round trip, or you can elect a shorter ride.  

The cost of the ride is $50 for riders who have their own bicycle and helmet; and $70 for riders who will need to rent equipment. All participants will receive a colorful cycling jersey.  Proceeds from the event will benefit Water For People.   

Riders will meet at 9:00 a.m. at Bike Chicago Rentals and Tour Shop, located at 239 E. Randolph St., across from Millennium Park. The ride will end at Millennium Park before 12 noon.  For more information, please contact George Patrick at georgepatrick@bellsouth.net or Kim Holland at KHolland@mariettaga.gov.   

WEFTEC Orientation
A WEFTEC Success Course for First-Time Attendees and New WEF Members
Sunday, October 19
12:00pm - 12:45pm
McCormick Place

Linda McKinney, well-known tradeshow trainer, will provide tips for using the resources available to plan your WEFTEC week.  The Conference Program and the Product Locator will save you time and target the exhibiting companies and technical sessions you most want to see. Designed specifically for first-time WEFTEC attendees and new WEF members, this information-filled introduction to WEF and WEFTEC is the first step towards success at this year’s event. Join WEF and industry leaders who will be on-hand to share their secrets to maximizing your WEFTEC and WEF experience!

Opening General Session
Sunday, October 19
4:45 pm – 6:15 pm

The kick-off event of WEFTEC.08, the Opening General Session will feature well-respected speakers from both inside and outside the industry who will deliver dynamic presentations on the hottest water-related topics.  This high-profile event sets the tone for the conference that draws thousands of water quality professionals from around the world each year. More details will be posted on our Opening General Session page as they become available. 

Water For People Gala
Sunday, October 19
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers
Ticket Cost: $50

Join us for the fifth annual fundraising event for Water For People at WEFTEC! Indulge in tasty appetizers while enjoying lively music and supporting Water For People’s work. You will have the opportunity to interact with Water For People staff as they share stories of water and sanitation work and its life-changing impact on people in the countries where we work.

Your support will help bring safe drinking water, improved sanitation, and hygiene education to the communities in Water For People's program countries.

Tickets will be available in advance via the WEFTEC registration website (online registration coming soon), directly through Water For People by emailing jmonahan@waterforpeople.org, at the on-site registration counter, or at the event.

Sponsorships are also available; please contact Nancy Stewart at nstewart@waterforpeople.org or 303.734.3489.

Water For People Booth
Sunday, October 19 - Wednesday, October 22
McCormick Place Convention Center

While you’re at the conference, be sure to visit the Water For People booth, featuring information about the organization’s important work in the developing world.  Staff will be available to discuss Water For People’s programs in Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, India and Malawi and how we help communities in these countries gain access to drinking water, sanitation systems and health and hygiene education.



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AAEE/AIDIS/WEF Breakfast Monday, October 20 7:30 am – 9:00 am Ticket Cost: $35 Speaker: Richard Lanyon

Chicagoan Richard (Dick) Lanyon spent his adolescence near the North Branch of that famed reversed river, occasionally playing in what was 1940s and 1950s era treated secondary effluent.  His bedroom window faced the North Branch Pumping Station, the facility that frequently disgorged scummy CSO.

Dick navigated a distinguished career rising through all aspects of this industry along with the Chicago Water Reclamation District’s international acclaim. He now heads the utility responsible for the remarkable recovery of the century old Chicago Waterway System, still a vital waterway for commercial navigation and drainage, but reborn for recreation and public enjoyment.

Richard Lanyon was appointed General Superintendent in 2006, directing the day-to-day operations, 2,100 employees and an annual budget of approximately $1 billion.  Mr. Lanyon is a 44-year career employee of the District.  Before his appointment, he was Director of Research and Development for 7 years.

He serves as the Chair of the Steering Committee of the National Biosolids Partnership, a collaboration of the USEPA, NACWA and WEF to further the beneficial reuse of biosolids, and the Chair of the WEF Sustainability Community of Practice, an effort to enhance sustainable practices by industry and government to better protect the environment.

What lies ahead for the environmental profession? Dick knows that water is vital to life and we in the water/wastewater/stormwater profession stand proud for supplying safe water, reclaiming wastewater and managing stormwater to the benefit, enjoyment and protection of life. Having been there, done that, hear his vision for where the profession will go with climate change, development pressures, economics of water, environmental advocacy, green technology, regulatory oversight, sustainability, wastewater reuse, water efficiency and watersheds.

14th Annual WEFTeach Monday, October 20 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. The award-winning WEFTeach will present a full-day train-the-trainer teacher’s workshop that shows innovative ways to engage youth in real life water problems and solutions.  WEFTEC’s economy of

Water is Life Fees, Finance and the Future – Water Is Life, and Infrastructure Makes It Happen™ Pay Offs Monday, October 20 8:30 am – 12:00 pm

The reality is a growing gap between the revenue utilities receive from local ratepayers and taxes and long-term investment needs.  We must invest in innovative solutions with new technologies to rebuild and expand these deteriorating water and wastewater systems to meet the needs of our communities both today and in the future. These investments are long-term and expensive, so meeting the challenges ahead requires a new partnership in which utilities, governments, citizens, businesses and community organizations all have important roles.

Since the EPA put out the Gap Analysis report in 2002, there have been numerous efforts at the federal, state and municipal level by the water sector overall to seek funding support.  In addition, the water sector has begun to move toward full cost pricing in order to sustain water systems for the future.  Doing so demands public awareness on the value of water and wastewater in order to support rate increases.

Responding to utility needs, WEF initiated the Water Is Life, and Infrastructure Makes It Happen™ education program in 2005 to provide professional tools and a coordinated effort for utilities.  The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) has joined WEF’s efforts to enhance and expand the infrastructure education program.  This session will explore the latest developments and outlook for funding infrastructure.  It will survey and present the best models for building public support.

Don’t Let the Big Picture Dictate the Local Decision: Persistent Questions Around Water Treatment
Monday, October 20
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
McCormick Place Convention Center
Moderator: Ned Breslin, Director of International Programs, Water For People

Debates over water treatment are heating up as water quantity and quality degrade globally. In the developing world, numerous factors come in to play in the decision of what treatment--if any--is  appropriate in a given setting.  This panel discussion will consider specific treatment solutions in a variety of international contexts.

23rd Annual U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Clean Water Act Recognition Awards Program
Monday, October 20 
11:30 am – 1:00 pm
McCormick Place
 
The EPA recognizes municipalities, wastewater treatment programs, facilities, and individuals on a national level as examples of an outstanding commitment to protect and improve the quality of the nation’s waters. The national winners have demonstrated exceptional technological achievements or innovative processes, methods, or devices in their waste treatment and pollution abatement programs. National awards are presented for outstanding accomplishments in innovative operations and maintenance, biosolids management, local pretreatment programs, and creative and cost-effective stormwater and combined sewer overflow control programs and projects. Engraved plaques will be presented to first and second place winners.

AEESP/WEF Scientist’s Luncheon Thinking Beyond the Box about the Challenges Posed by Emerging Contaminants Monday, October 20  11:30 am – 1:30 pm Ticket Cost: $55 McCormick Place Featuring Dr. David L. Sedlak, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Berkeley Research conducted over the past decade has documented the presence of organic contaminants such as steroid

hormones, pharmaceuticals and personal care products in municipal wastewater effluent.  In response to these findings, environmental engineers have put considerable effort into optimizing existing treatment systems and developing advanced treatment systems to remove these contaminants.  More recent research indicates that sources of these and other related organic contaminants are not restricted to wastewater effluent. Endocrine disrupting compounds have been detected at high concentrations in agricultural runoff; and, plasticizers, flame retardants and other synthetic compounds are abundant in urban surface streams that are unaffected by wastewater effluent discharges.  

While the ubiquitous presence of trace levels of organic contaminants poses many interesting challenges to engineers studying individual treatment processes, it also provides us with an opportunity to reevaluate the way in which we engineer the hydrologic cycle and design our water infrastructure.  Developing integrated approaches for controlling trace organics from various sources is particularly relevant in light of new demands on water supplies and aquatic ecosystems from urban development and climate change.

David Sedlak is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley.  His research addresses water quality engineering with a focus on trace contaminants and their fate in natural and engineered systems.  Some of his recent projects have addressed the formation and removal of nitrosamines in water recycling systems, the fate of steroid hormones in engineered wetlands and agricultural watersheds, the methylation of mercury in sediments and the use of iron nanoparticles for oxidation of organic contaminants.  Prior to joining the faculty at UC Berkeley, Dr. Sedlak was a postdoctoral researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science & Technology (EAWAG).  He received a B.S. degree for Cornell University in 1986 and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1992.

Dr. Sedlak has been an active member of AEESP since 1994, most recently serving on the dissertation award committee.  He has been a member of WEF since 1996. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, WERF’s Paul L. Busch Award and a Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship.

Eco-San in the Marketplace: The Economy of Ecology
Monday, October 20
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
McCormick Place Convention Center
Moderator: Ned Breslin, Director of International Programs, Water For People

With more than a third of the people in the world lacking a means of safe waste disposal, there has never been a better time for innovation in the sanitation sector. This panel discussion puts the focus on

AEESP/WEF Lecture Part of Technical Session 22 Monday, October 20 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm McCormick Place Dr. Glen T. Daigger, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for CH2M HILL in Englewood, Colorado will deliver the AEESP/WEF Lecture on “Evolving Urban Water and Residuals Management Paradigms: Water Reclamation and Reuse, Decentralization, Energy Production, Resource Recovery.”

Industrial Networking Reception
Monday, October 20 
5:00 pm – 6:15 pm
McCormick Place
By invitation only

This reception provides an opportunity to develop relationships with key leaders working on industrial issues such as: industrial wastewater treatment, water reuse, residuals management, sustainability, climate change implications, research, air emissions, hazardous wastes, groundwater, and permitting and compliance.  Professionals from several industries will be present including industry personnel and officials, manufacturers, academia, regulatory officials, and consultants. Industrial related awards will be presented at the reception. For more information, contact WEF at 703-684-2400, x7750 or indreception@wef.org.



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Leadership Day Workshop
Tuesday, October 21
8:00 am – 3:00 pm
McCormick Place

This one day program held annually at WEFTEC offers MA Leaders the opportunity to acquire essential training on a diversity of not-for-profit management issues.  Boards, volunteers, and staff are all working towards a goal that is driven by their mission.  Join your MA Leader colleagues in a venue of sharing information, and working together on ways to effectively meet the challenges of today’s world. 

Collection Systems Luncheon
Tuesday, October 21
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
McCormick Place
Keynote Speaker: Kevin Shafer

This luncheon will provide an excellent opportunity to network with other wastewater collection system professionals and the Collection Systems Committee leadership. The Keynote Speaker is Mr. Kevin Shafer, PE the Executive Director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD).  Kevin became Executive Director at the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) in March 2002.  He previously served as the MMSD Director of Technical Services since 1998.  Prior to joining the District, Shafer spent 10 years in private industry with an international engineering firm in Chicago and Milwaukee, and six years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Fort Worth, Texas. Shafer received a bachelor’s degree in science and civil engineering from the University of Illinois in 1982, and a master’s degree in science and civil engineering from the University of Texas in 1988. 

Mr. Shafer’s lunchtime presentation is titled, ‘A Climate Change for Wastewater Utilities and Collection Systems.’  Kevin will cover the changing regulatory climate regarding Green Infrastructure initiatives, the public perception of climate change regarding collection system management, and the changing climate regarding the cooperative efforts to improve water quality.  Additionally, Kevin will talk about how the engineering community must help shape these changes to connect technical issues and regulatory concerns with the development of Long Term Control Plans and wet weather collection and conveyance.

There will also be an introduction of the 2008 WEF Collection System Award recipient. All past Collection Systems Award recipients will be acknowledged.
 


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