May 7, 2018 — Patrick Dube, WEF's biosolids program manager, blogs about the upcoming Residuals and Biosolids Conference May 15-18.
Resource recovery has become a critical part of the water industry, and the Water Environment Federation has been pioneering this effort with the adoption of the term "water resource recovery facility" (WRRF) more than five years ago. "Wastewater" has been slowly phased out of our vocabulary, and the conversation has now turned to how utilities, water professionals and operators can provide economic and environmentally friendly resource recovery solutions. Biosolids play a key role in resource recovery as they can be used to generate energy, recover nutrients, create value added products, and promote healthy soils while reducing the effects of climate change. In this way, biosolids can be used to help the public understand that wastewater should no longer be thought of as a waste, but as a valuable resource utilized by communities across the country.
Resource recovery will be at the forefront of the upcoming Residuals and Biosolids 2018 conference (RBC), where the tagline of the conference is “Engaging Public and Private Sectors for Integrated Resource Recovery.” Taking place at the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona, RBC begins with three excellent workshops to open the conference on Tuesday, May 15. The following day will kick off with the Opening General Session, featuring a keynote from Kathryn Sorenson, director for the City of Phoenix Water Services Department, which will focus on how a large industry leading utility can facilitate resource recovery in a resource-constrained region. Following the opening session, the exhibition hall will display the latest in biosolids technologies from commercial leaders in the industry, while technical experts will present and discuss new and exciting biosolids work in sessions running through the end of the conference on Friday, May 18.
We here at WEF are excited to bring the leaders in the biosolids industry together in Phoenix to continue the discussion about resource recovery, and I hope to see everyone in Phoenix!
Patrick Dube, Ph.D., is WEF's former practice lead for resource recovery. In this role, he serves as liaison to the Residuals and Biosolids Committee and helps support biosolids technical and communications enterprises. Patrick earned his bachelor’s and doctorate degrees in Biological Engineering from the University of Florida. His research background with UF and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service has ranged from anaerobic digestion to biofuel production to nutrient removal.