Following last year’s hugely successful virtual event, the WWEM organisers are delighted to announce that WWEM 2022 will take place live at the Telford International Centre on 12th and 13th October. Covering regulations, standards, process control, pollution prevention, test methods and monitoring, WWEM will focus on Water, Wastewater and Environmental Monitoring in both process water and natural water resources.
“We are absolutely delighted to be able to return to live events again,” says organiser Marcus Pattison. “Last year’s virtual event enabled a broader group of people to access the presentations, but the pandemic prevented all of us from exploiting the advantages of face-to-face meetings. As a focused event, WWEM therefore offers everyone the opportunity to meet a lot of key people in a short space of time, whilst accessing an enormous amount of the latest information.”
The WWEM presentation programme is supported by a comprehensive range of seminars, and two major international exhibitions featuring most of the world’s leading suppliers of environmental monitoring equipment, analytical testing instrumentation and support services.
Registration for both WWEM and the co-located AQE Air Quality & Emissions show, is free and available from www.ilmexhibitions.com. By registering prior to the event, visitors will be entitled to free parking, free refreshments and complementary access to both events.
The overall objective for 2022 will be to focus on learning and development. “There will be over 100 hours of free content available,” explains Oliver Grievson, who helped to organise the programme. “We have involved several key professional organisations such as CIWEM, the IES and the IMC to ensure that the content is relevant and appropriate for professional development. WWEM 2022 therefore represents a great opportunity for everyone from the newest apprentices to the most experienced industry experts.” Oliver is the founder of WIPAC (Water Industry Process Automation & Control), the LinkedIn Group, which currently has over 11,000 members.
A Pollution Forum will focus on a recent investigation from the Environment Audit Committee (EAC) into river water quality and the new monitoring requirements outlined in Section 82 of the Environment Act 2021.
Effluent and river water quality will also be addressed by speakers from the Environment Agency, CIWEM, United Utilities and the Southern Water Storm Overflow Taskforce. In the afternoon, the Rivers Trust will host a major session focusing on citizen science; looking at the ways in which any interested individuals can help improve the spatial and temporal monitoring of the UK’s rivers.
A Flow Forum will run on the first day of WWEM, featuring speakers from the Environment Agency, Thames Water, Morrison Water Services and the Coal Authority, with presentations covering the latest requirements and practical insights for installers and operators of flow monitoring equipment.
Within a Digital Zone, BIM4Water will run a series of presentations and workshops designed to share knowledge and enhance skills in the digital transformation of the water sector through better information management. BIM4Water is a cross industry not-for-profit group which is open to all organisations involved in the management and delivery of water and wastewater assets and services. A series of SWAN (Smart Water Networks Forum) workshops will also bring together key players to collaborate and accelerate the use of data-driven solutions in water and wastewater networks. The second day of the Digital Zone will see presentations by technology experts from within the supply chain.
A Communications Zone will focus on digital transformation. Developments in communications technology are the enablers of the advantages that are now being realised, and speakers will describe the latest advances in a range of communications technologies. Vodafone will explain how narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), a wireless communications standard, is ideal for devices that handle relatively small amounts of data with a low bandwidth and a low power requirement. Ground Control will describe the application of satellite communications, Siemens will explain the role of EDGE in IoT, and advances in radio communications will be described by Radio Data Networks.
The hugely successful Instrumentation Apprentice Competition will again operate throughout WWEM. The competition is free to enter, with teams generally coming from utilities and service providers. All competitors are invited to the Gala Dinner (12th Oct) and receive free membership of the Institute of Measurement & Control.
WWEM has partnered with the Future Water Association to run a ‘Water Dragons’ heat on 12th October, during the conference/exhibition. Water Dragons provides a unique opportunity for companies to pitch product, service or process innovations to a panel of senior water company executives and industry specialists.
Summarising the plans for these two events, Marcus Pattison says: “It is tremendously exciting to be able to run a physical event again – everyone keeps telling me that they can’t wait to meet again! This year the volume of available content is incredible – I would urge everyone to plan their trip very carefully so that they can jump in and out of their sessions of most relevance, to maximise the benefit of their visit.
“Can I also ask everyone to REGISTER NOW at www.ilmexhibitions.com – it’s free and only takes a few seconds. Registered visitors will be entitled to free parking, free entry, free lunch and refreshments, but most importantly, they will be provided with free access to all of the presentations (both AQE and WWEM), both exhibitions and all of the seminars and workshops that will take place!
“Telford benefits from easy access and the International Centre has hotels on site, so that visitors can stay for both days. So, as you can probably tell, we are really excited about this year’s events and we can’t wait to see everyone in Telford!”
