GoingToMeet

The principles underlying the design and operation of water and wastewater treatment infrastructure have undergone large changes over the past five years.  The Water Industry is now faced with seemingly contradictory requirements to deliver large reductions in its carbon footprint (enforced by the Carbon Reduction Commitment), whilst gearing up to meet the much tighter standards of the Water Framework Directive and delivering both of these at a reduced cost to the consumer.  A common political response to this dilemma is to state glibly that the industry will require more innovation.  Innovation has a role to play, but its potential to deliver solutions of the magnitude required by the industry should not be overestimated.  This is particularly the case in view of the scale of the carbon and energy reductions that are required and the quite short timescales over which these reductions must be delivered.  But such challenges pose opportunities and many in the industry relish the prospects of moving out of recession by delivering a new generation of low-energy options, constructed and operated with a much reduced carbon footprint.  There was a similar optimism two decades ago, following the privatisation of the water industry: a period which oversaw a plethora of innovative treatment alternatives, although few of these now survive.  It is the purpose of this Conference to explore how the industry is gearing up to the immediate challenges by both increasing the efficiency of existing technology whilst pushing forward with the development of more novel approaches.   It is intended to provide an interactive environment where those who are offering the new ideas and solutions, can interact with and learn from those who have been involved with the successes and failures of the previous century.