ISA Water/Wastewater Symposium

The International Society of Automation (ISA) is pleased to announce that pre-registration activity for the 2013 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium (WWAC Symposium) has been brisk. Pre-registration for the symposium, which will take place 6-8 August in Orlando, Florida, USA, is now in excess of 200. In addition, more than 30 individuals have registered for the symposium’s two optional short courses on in-depth cybersecurity and flow meter selection/sizing.

Taking place at the Crowne Plaza Orlando-Universal Hotel in Orlando, the 2013 ISA WWAC Symposium is a three-day event that focuses on the challenges associated with automation and instrumentation in the water and wastewater sectors. The symposium features more than 40 technical speakers, two full days of technical presentations, a tour of a local water treatment plant, a general reception and a supplier showcase. This symposium is unique as it focuses entirely on the needs of automation professionals in the municipal water and wastewater sectors.

“Our secret is our focus,” says Patrick Gouhin, CEO and Executive Director at ISA. “Our annual ISA Water/Wastewater Symposium specifically caters to the needs of professionals involved with automation, instrumentation and SCADA in the municipal water and wastewater sectors. It is a unique niche event and we are proud of its increasing popularity. There is no other event like it in North America.”

This year’s technical program features more than 40 speakers. Carey E. Hidaka from IBM’s Smarter Water Group will present a keynote address on how “big data” analytics can realize significant opportunities when applied to the myriad of data sources available to municipal water and wastewater utilities.  These data sources include supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), customer billing systems, and enterprise asset management systems (EAMS) as well as  geographic information systems (GIS) and web-based data, such as those used for the US Geological Survey.

“Fresh water, a fundamental requirement for life on the planet, is becoming a scarce resource as the world’s population grows and competition increases for available water,” says IBM’s Hidaka, a seasoned professional with more than 35 years of experience in the water and information technology sectors. “Against this backdrop, the world’s cities will require new and innovative approaches to address these significant challenges. Business-as-usual and traditional engineering solutions won’t be enough.”

“This year’s 2013 WWAC symposium program covers a fascinating mix of instrumentation, SCADA, cybersecurity, alarm management, and human-factors topics. The program offers great insight to anyone who works in the operations, maintenance, design or capital planning aspects of the water or wastewater sector,” says general symposium chair Graham Nasby, a senior instrumentation and control engineer with Eramosa Engineering.