WEF Joins in Hosting Briefings on Membrane Technology

On Sept. 7, the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) joined in hosting two events to discuss with public officials how membrane technology is being used by communities to address water quality and quantity challenges.

WEF joined with the American Membrane Technology Association (Stuart, Fla.) and the WateReuse Association (Alexandria, Va.) to hold a morning meeting at the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) and an afternoon briefing on Capitol Hill.

Senior staff from DOI, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Geological Survey joined representatives from other federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations with interests in water to attend the morning meeting. Utility leaders from Jupiter, Fla.; Tampa Bay, Fla.; El Paso, Texas; and Orange County Water District (Fountain Valley, Calif.) gave presentations on how their communities use membrane technology for desalination, water reuse, groundwater replenishment, and water treatment. Representatives from companies that manufacture membrane technology —The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.), GE (Boston), and Toray (Tokyo) — also spoke about the opportunities the technology offers, and made policy recommendations to advance membrane use.

U.S. Rep. Brian Mast (R–Fla.), vice chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Water Resources Subcommittee, hosted the afternoon briefing alongside the three organizations. The shortened version of the morning meeting featured presentations by representatives from four utilities discussing how membrane technology is being used at their facilities.