WEFTEC.05 Draws over 18,000 Water Professionals to Washington, DC

Alexandria, VA – WEFTEC.05, the Water Environment Federation’s 78th annual technical exhibition and conference, drew an attendance of 18,132 last week at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Held October 29 through November 2, the conference featured a total of 898 companies covering 220,000 square feet of floor space. The record-breaking exhibition numbers make WEFTEC.05 the largest show to date at the convention center which first opened in 2003.

“The last time WEFTEC was held in Washington was in 1990,” said WEF Executive Director Bill Bertera. “By all accounts from exhibitors to attendees to presenters this was definitely one of our most successful shows…and next year promises to be even better.”

In addition to the expansive exhibit floor, attendees selected from a technical program that boasted 112 technical sessions, 24 workshops, and 11 facility tours. Special events such as an appearance by D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams who headlined a panel discussing how water quality directly ties into the development of the local Anacostia Riverfront; a hurricane panel discussion featuring several water quality and environmental professionals from New Orleans, Florida and Mississippi; and technical sessions on the tsunami in southeast Asia and reconstructing water and wastewater infrastructure in Iraq, all provided the opportunity to learn about a wide-range of water quality challenges from local, national and international perspectives.

Other conference highlights included a well-attended Opening General Session where speakers, including two U.S. EPA Administrators, highlighted domestic and international themes. The impressive program line-up included current U.S. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, former U.S. EPA Administrator (1989-1992) and founding partner of Aqua International Partners William Reilly, 2005 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate and Director of the Centre for Science and Environment (New Delhi, India) Sunita Narain, then WEF President Lynn Orphan and Incoming President Michael Read.

The following day, as part of the “WEF Celebration of Excellence”, Orphan ceremoniously “passed the gavel” of Federation leadership to Read. Also inducted were the 2005-2006 WEF Officers: President-Elect Mohamed Dahab, Vice President Adam Zabinski and Treasurer Michael Godfrey. The ceremony culminated with the presentation of over 25 awards in recognition of the outstanding achievements of the most talented and dedicated professionals in the water quality community. In addition, WEF instituted a new President’s award recognizing outstanding leadership on behalf of the water environment. The first recipient, Rep. Charles Taylor from North Carolina, was honored for his support of the National Biosolids Partnership and efforts to restore funding to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

On the international front, over 1,600 international attendees - including eleven trade delegations - visited the Global Center where conference exhibitors had the opportunity to meet with buyers and market experts from Asia and Eastern Europe. WEF once again partnered with the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership Exchange Program for Sustainable Growth (US-AEP), Eurasia’s American Partnership for Environmentally Sustainable Economies (ECOLINKS), and the U.S. Department of Commerce International Buyer Program (I.B.P.) to provide a forum for international business. In recognition of WEFTEC’s global business program, WEF was presented with a certificate of appreciation by Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director-General of the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service, Israel Hernandez.

Already the largest water quality show in North America, WEFTEC continues to grow as plans for WEFTEC.06 get underway. To date, a total of 625 companies have already reserved 203,500 of net square footage space for the conference – more than half the total of exhibitors and just 10,000 feet shy of the total floor space for 2005. Tagged as “The Biggest Keeps Getting Bigger”, WEFTEC.06 is scheduled to take place October 21-25, 2006 at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas, TX. For the last WEFTEC news, visit www.weftec.org.
   

About WEF
Founded in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with members from varied disciplines who work toward the WEF vision of preservation and enhancement of the global water environment. The WEF network includes water quality professionals from 76 Member Associations in 30 countries. www.wef.org

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