WEF Highlights

The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) and Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF; Alexandria, Va.) are launching three new projects under the Leaders Innovation Forum for Technology (LIFT) program. The three projects are a Genifuel hydrothermal processing bench-scale technology evaluation, an incentives-for-innovation adoption project, and a LIFT database project. The Genifuel hydrothermal processing bench-scale technology […]

The U.S. Water Alliance (USWA; Washington, D.C.) announced the winners of the 5th annual U.S. Water Prize that honors organizations with strategies promoting the value of water as well as the power of innovating and integrating for water sustainability. The winners, selected to represent the municipal, nonprofit, and business sectors, were the City of San […]

A group of five associations, representing the water sector and the nonwoven fabrics industry, announced March 19 that they are working collaboratively to develop a new edition of guidelines. These guidelines will influence product design and support the marketing of nonwoven products as “flushable” with no adverse effects on wastewater systems. The associations also announced […]

Educating the 2014 Water Leadership Institute on attributes of successful leaders   The next generation of water sector leaders gathered at Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) headquarters on June 17 to learn by example. Four speakers — two from the water sector and two from other sectors — educated members of WEF’s 2014 Water […]

The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) and the International Water Association (IWA; London) plan to continue working together to grow and disseminate water knowledge and to serve and advance the global water profession. WEF and IWA have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) stating that the organizations will seek opportunities for mutually beneficial joint […]

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to travel the country and engage groups of utility managers in a discussion of pressing issues. More than 100 of these professionals from around the United States participated in “views from the lunchroom” discussions. Despite differences in utility size or location, I saw a remarkable consistency in what […]

On Feb. 3, Eileen O’Neill was formally named executive director of the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.). She had served as interim executive director since July. O’Neill has more than 20 years of experience at WEF; in 2011, she became WEF’s deputy executive director and before this, served as chief technical officer with responsibility […]

Water utilities need energy, and energy utilities need water, lots of it. But a growing number of water utilities are generating electricity and transportation fuels. And many electric utilities can use wastewater to cool their facilities. All types of utilities experience the effects of a changing climate but few have explored ways to work together […]