Successful ASDWA Annual Conference
ASDWA’s 33rd Annual Conference in Des Moines, IA last month was a great success. Forty-three of the fifty states attended, and many brought multiple staff to better capture all the important information shared at this event. Our EPA partners and others in the water industry also came to Des Moines to bring total attendance to over 250. In addition to the regular conference sessions, 22 exhibitors shared information with attendees about their products and services.
The first day starts with a time reserved for states to discuss common issues in a States Only Roundtable. Then we join our partners and “co-regulators” at EPA to consider how together we can improve SDWA implementation and public health protection in these challenging times. Topics for the states and EPA included PFAS, SDWIS Prime, OECA’s new National Compliance Initiative, new WIIN Grants, Legionella, and the regulatory outlook.
The main conference sessions this year featured a full day of plenary sessions covering “hot topics” such as building water quality and treatment, PFAS, lead in schools and lead service lines, and algal toxins. The focus of these sessions was to learn from state successes and develop a path going forward on these challenging issues. The next day brought concurrent sessions on a wide variety of technical topics covering regulations and compliance, emerging contaminants, the DWSRF, small systems, corrosion control, managing data, and training. There was something there for everyone, regardless of the role they play in the state drinking water program or in the water industry!
The final day focused on states sharing tools they have developed for improving the operation of their program or performance of their water systems. States in this session also shared how they have met unique challenges in their state, so colleagues could be on alert for similar problems. This supports the goal of all ASDWA conferences, which is to have states learn from each other as much, or even more than they learn from the outside speakers that are invited. ASDWA strives to provide excellent value for the time and resources states invest in our conference.
Next year’s ASDWA Annual Conference will be in Tampa, Florida the week of October 28. We hope you will plan to attend. Please watch the ASDWA Events page for details as they become available.
