WEF Highlights

The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) is hosting the fifth annual Ingenuity Contest. The competition recognizes that not all innovations come from the research laboratory. Some innovations come from the need to tackle a persistent problem with nothing more than the materials at hand and a hearty dose of ingenuity. The imaginative, inventive, and […]

Noel McKay Hurley Sr., water sector leader and life member of the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) and the Water Environment Association of South Carolina (WEASC), died Feb. 4. Hurley worked for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) for nearly 35 years, becoming chief of its Bureau of Environmental Laboratories […]

During WEFTEC 2015, 44 teams — the largest number ever assembled — stepped up to compete in Operations Challenge. The competitors represent the often-unsung heroes of wastewater treatment. They rely on teamwork as their key to success both in the competition’s Process, Laboratory, Collection Systems, Godwin Maintenance, and Safety events and on the job. This […]

German competition motivates and trains operators   During WEFTEC® 2015, 44 teams tested their skills during the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) Operations Challenge competition. Two of these teams traveled from Germany to compete. The teams’ journey to WEFTEC 2015 began after water sector leaders from Germany were inspired to develop their own Operations […]

Martha Hahn, authority manager of the Plum Creek Water Reclamation Authority (PCWRA; Castle Rock, Colo.) and WEFTEC® 2015 speaker, died Oct. 1. A member of the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) and Rocky Mountain Water Environment Association since 2007, she entered the water sector in 2002 and quickly made a name for herself as […]

On May 20, the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) filed comments on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Methods Update proposed rule. WEF’s comments centered on specific methods and provided specific recommendations to EPA’s proposals. In addition, WEF comments requested that EPA clarify a number of items where requirements seemed redundant or did not […]

The City of Boulder, Colo., tests using beer byproduct to help reduce nitrogen   When the City of Boulder, Colo., decided to find ways to further reduce nitrogen runoff from its water resource recovery facility (WRRF), it discovered that the answer lay in one of the least likely substances: beer. Or, more specifically, the answer […]

As sustainable water management increasingly becomes important for the metro-Atlanta region, Emory University  (Atlanta) is stepping up as a technological pioneer and community leader in that city. University embodies sustainability The region struggles with drought, legal disputes over water supply, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency consent decrees on water quality. So the university opened the […]