Don’t Miss Out on #PNCWA2017’s Preconference Workshops

The technical program for #PNCWA2017—coming up soon October 22–25 in Vancouver Washington—is packed with great educational opportunities. But sometimes 45 minutes isn’t long enough to dig deeper into a topic. That’s why we’ve put together a great lineup of preconference workshops allowing you to spend a half or even full day immersed in a specific topic.

These workshops—covering leadership development, odor control, utility management, greenhouse gas emission, and collection system inspection—take place the Sunday before the conference. Not only will you earn additional CEUs, you’ll also get an in-depth training for a fraction of what the cost usually is. (Plus, after they’re over you’ll be right on time for the evening’s networking events!) Registration for these workshops are not included in your regular conference registration, but you can still register for them online.

We’ve broken down the workshops below, but make sure to review the full conference guide for complete workshop descriptions. Leaders from PNCWA Committees have put together really outstanding programs. We can’t wait to see you in Vancouver!

 

Greenhouse Gas Emission Monitoring and Control: Policy, Practitioner, and Research Perspectives

When: Sunday, October 22 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
CEUs: 0.575 (requested)

Sponsored by: PNCWA Emerging Technologies Committee and PNCWA Resource Recovery Committee
Moderator: Li Lei, CH2M Speakers: Felix Brandli, King County; Kartik Chandran, Columbia University; Bill Drumheller, Washington Department of Ecology; Doug Huxley, CH2M; James Oyler, Genifuel Corporation; Lesley Snowden-Swan, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

This workshop will focus on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and reduction at wastewater treatment plants, covering regulation environment, researches, practices and technologies for GHG emission control, both nationwide and within the Pacific Northwest region. The workshop will feature representatives from regulatory agencies’ air quality/climate change programs, forward-thinking municipalities/utilities, leading researcher and consultants from academia and consulting fields, as well as innovative technology providers.

This workshop is ideal for water quality professionals and managers from municipalities, utilities, consulting fields, and vendors who are interested in finding answers to regulatory, managerial, process and economic issues and their future outlook pertaining to GHG monitoring and reduction as well as energy efficiency and sustainability. Cost (lunch included): $120 Members, $145 Nonmembers

Effective Utility Management: Your Utility’s Road to Sustainability and Operational Efficiency

When: Sunday, October 22 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
CEUs: 0.65 (requested)

Sponsored by: PNCWA Utility Management Committee
Moderator: David Gordon, FCS Group; Jim Horne, US EPA Speakers: Rob Greenwood, Ross Strategic Consulting; Jim Horne, US EPA

This workshop will highlight the value and importance of effective utility management (EUM) based on the Attributes of Effectively Managed Utilities and Keys to Management Success as endorsed by the Water Environment Federation, AWWA, EPA and several other leading associations. The goal of this workshop will be to familiarize participants with the steps needed to implement EUM and support utility initiatives that encourage sustainability, efficiency and goal attainment. It is simple, actionable and scalable to meet the needs of all utilities.

Participants in this workshop will understand the essential components of the EUM cycle; learn how to link the EUM assessment to utility management best practices and performance measures; understand the other resources to support Effective Utility Management implementation; and know the steps for creating an EUM Improvement Plan. Utility managers and leaders from districts and facilities of all sizes who want to improve the effectiveness of their utility are encouraged to attend this highly interactive workshop. Cost (lunch included): $120 Members, $145 Nonmembers

Collection System Inspection, Condition Assessment and Prioritization

When: Sunday, October 22 1:00 pm – 5:15 pm
CEUs: 0.4 (requested)

Sponsored by: PNCWA Collections Systems Committee
Moderator: Stephen Lusch, Roseburg Urban Sanitary Authority Speakers: Rob Lee, Murraysmith; Jason Leman, Murraysmith; Joe Dvork, City of Portland; Nishant Paruleka, City of Portland; Vanessa Johnson, Clark Regional Wastewater District; Kenny Moffat, CH2M

Many of our collection systems are reaching the end of their original design lives. Almost universally, the value of our systems greatly outweigh any capital investment that could be used to rehabilitate or renew them. The backbone of sound collection systems management is to rehabilitate or replace our assets right before failure. So how to do we define failure? And how do we determine when an asset’s condition justifies renewal?

Inspecting and understanding the condition of our collection systems is paramount to answering these questions. This workshop will provide an overview of the inspection tools that are available in the Pacific Northwest, how to set up a systematic inspection program that matches a utility’s financial realities, the steps needed to translate inspection results into assessing condition and providing estimates of remaining asset life, and developing a defensible capital improvement plan. Examples of several inspection, condition assessment, and asset management programs in the region will be given. The workshop will conclude with a discussion among the participants of how to set up and tailor a program that matches best practices. Cost: $70 Members, $85 Nonmembers

When Secondary Problems Become Primary: Tools for Solving Noise and Odor Challenges

When: Sunday, October 22 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
CEUs: 0.375 (requested)

Sponsored by: PNCWA Odor and Air Quality Committee 
Moderator: Dick Finger, King County (retired) Speakers: Dick Finger, King County; Adam Jenkins, The Greenbusch Group; David Kopchynski, Parametrix; Ed Liebsch, HDRl Jeffrey Zahller, HDR; Miaomiao Zhang, CH2M

Wastewater treatment and conveyance systems are intended to treat sewage for the protection of the environment and the public good. Increasingly, this entails more than just effluent quality and brings a whole host of issues regarding the interaction of infrastructure and the public. Two of the most notable “secondary” issues that often create the greatest safety and public perception problems are nuisance odors and noise. This workshop will provide the tools to diagnose and solve problems related to the equipment noise and process odors that come as a natural part of our work.

Odor control experts will provide a comprehensive introduction to odor control field equipment and how it can be used to troubleshoot problems. This will be followed by facilitated interaction in which attendees will have an opportunity to handle and try various types of equipment and receive information on where equipment can be rented/purchased and typical costs. After becoming familiar with the type of data that can be obtained, the workshop will discuss how that data can be used in atmospheric and dispersion modeling to answer questions and solve problems. Discussion will include what models are available, how they work, and how accurate are the results. Cost: $70 Members, $85 Nonmembers

Find the Leader Within You!

When: Sunday, October 22 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
CEUs: 0.575 (requested) CEUs may not be available for this training in all states.

Sponsored by: PNCWA Leadership Development Committee
Moderators: Marcos Lopez, Tetra Tech; Mark Poling, Clean Water Services Speakers: Michael Comeskey, City of Boise; Amy Dammarell, HDR

What does leadership look like? What do leaders do when they are at their best? Our workshop is based on the Five Leadership Practices identified by leading researchers Kouzes and Posner, authors of “The Leadership Challenge,” followed by a lively discussion of what leadership is all about.

Whether you’re an aspiring leader or one who’s been there, join us for an exploration of leaders at their best. This workshop is the kickoff to a leadership certificate program developed by PNCWA’s Leadership Development Committee. Workshop attendees do not need to participate in the entire certificate program but those wanting to pursue the program must attend the workshop. See more info on the workshop and the certificate program at pncwa.org/leadership. Cost (lunch included): $120 Members, $145 Nonmembers


Read the full preconference workshop descriptions in the PNCWA2017 Conference Brochure, and register for them here

Thanks to our conference champions: 

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