WCW26

Nametags will be required for all Conference events.

Quiet Lounge is open all week for all attendees to promote your conference wellness.

Registration Required - Cost: $175 + GST

Registration Required - Cost: $175 + GST
Attendees should bring their work laptops with Office 365.
Speakers:

• Jennie Bryant, Director of Technology Experience & Enablement, WBM Technologies
• Fiya Sebastine, Technology Experience and Enablement Leader, WBM Technologies
• Jody Sagen, Manager of Technology Engagement & Adoption, WBM Technologies

This session is designed to give water and wastewater professionals a clear, practical introduction to how artificial intelligence is becoming part of everyday work. Participants will explore what AI really means in a business setting, where it already shows up in familiar tools, and how it can be used safely and responsibly to support daily tasks. No technical background is required, and the session is paced to be comfortable for anyone who is curious but unsure where to start.
The workshop also focuses on real workplace scenarios, including how AI can help save time in meetings, support clearer communication, and reduce the overhead of routine work. Just as importantly, the session will address the human side of change, offering guidance on how to introduce new tools in a way that builds confidence, trust, and adoption across teams. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of what is possible today and how to take simple, thoughtful first steps in their own organizations.

• A practical approach to getting started with AI
• Ways AI can support communication, meetings and day-to-day tasks
• Approaches to introducing AI to your organization in a way that encourages confidence and adoption

Who should attend: This session is ideal for water and wastewater operators, supervisors, managers, and support staff who are curious about AI and want a practical, easy to understand starting point. It is especially suited for those who influence day to day operations, communication, training, or process improvement and want to better understand how AI may support their work without needing a technical background.

Registration Required - Cost: $175 + GST
Speakers:

• John Wilbur (Hach/AQI)
• Tyrone Yan (Hach/AQI)
• Rui Li (EPCOR)

Effective water and wastewater operations rely on accurate, accessible, and well‑governed data to support regulatory compliance, operational performance, and informed decision‑making. This seminar will explore common water data management challenges faced by utilities, including data silos, manual processes, data quality issues, and increasing reporting requirements. Attendees will learn best practices for structuring, validating, and managing operational data across treatment, distribution, and collection systems, with a focus on creating a reliable foundation for analysis, reporting, and long‑term asset management.
The session will include a practical demonstration of WIMS, a water information management system used by utilities to centralize operational and compliance data, streamline regulatory reporting, and support advanced analysis. Real‑world examples from utility operations will illustrate how standardized data management practices improve efficiency, reduce risk, and enable more proactive operational insights. The seminar is designed for water and wastewater professionals seeking to strengthen their data management strategies and better leverage operational data to support day‑to‑day operations and long‑term planning.

• Principles and best practices for water and wastewater data management to support regulatory compliance and defensible reporting
• Application of structured data management approaches to improve operational efficiency, data quality, and informed decision‑making
• Practical instruction through a live demonstration of a water information management system (WIMS) and utility‑based use cases

Who should attend: This workshop is intended for water and wastewater operators, engineers, technologists, supervisors, compliance staff, and utility managers who are responsible for operational data collection, regulatory reporting, and the use of data to support effective treatment, distribution, collection, and wastewater operations.

SOLD OUT
PPE Requirements:

• Steel‑toed boots
• Hard hat 
• Safety vest 
• Safety glasses 
• Gloves 

SOLD OUT
PPE Requirements:

• Steel‑toed boots
• Hard hat 
• Safety vest 
• Safety glasses 
• Gloves 

Lunch, Board meeting & AGM

SOLD OUT
PPE Requirements 

• Steel-toed boots
• Hard hat 
• Safety glasses
• Hi-visibility vest 

Registration Required - Cost: $175 + GST
Speakers:

• Ryan Cooper, M.Sc., P.Biol. Senior Environmental Scientist, City of Regina
• Emeka Orji, P.Eng, PMP., Water Operations Manager, City of Saskatoon
• Ryan Ledl, Senior Industrial Wastewater Investigator, EPCOR Water Services, Edmonton

Effective sewer source control is one of the most powerful, yet often underdeveloped, tools municipalities have to protect wastewater infrastructure, safeguard treatment processes, protect the environment, and reduce long term operational costs. This workshop discusses the foundational elements required to build, implement, and sustain a robust source control program, starting with the core question: Why are we doing this? Participants will explore the risks and challenges that arise when no formal program exists, including system damage, regulatory exposure, and impacts on public and environmental health.
The session provides a practical, step by step look at bylaw development fundamentals to approval pathways, revision cycles, and the essential components of a modern sewer bylaw. Key distinctions such as prohibited versus restricted versus surchargeable substances, and the differences between storm and domestic sewer requirements, will be explored.
Successful source control depends on collaboration. The workshop examines strategies for managing diverse stakeholders: City Council, industrial partners, wastewater treatment plant operators, regulators, and bylaw enforcement officers. Participants will also gain clarity on spill response roles and responsibilities, release reporting expectations, and the design of monitoring and sampling programs, including what to test for, how to structure inspections, scheduling considerations, and available monitoring technologies.
High risk or “problem” industries will be discussed alongside enforcement tools and emerging innovative approaches such as toxicity probes. The workshop also addresses logistical challenges that municipalities commonly face when rolling out or scaling a program such as compliance approvals, permits to release and pretreatment requirements.
The workshop will be facilitated by a group of industry practitioners from across Western Canada, who will share their experience in managing source control projects, along with the approaches adopted by their respective municipalities
By the end, attendees will leave with a better understanding of what success looks like for a sewer source control program, both in measurable outcomes and in long term system resilience, with practical insights they can apply immediately within their own organizatio

• Why is source control important
• Bylaws
• Stakeholder management
• Spill response
• Monitoring/Sampling
• Problem industries
• Enforcement
• Novel approaches
• Logistical challenges
• Successes

Who should attend: Sewer collection system operators, Wastewater and stormwater professionals, Bylaw enforcement personnel, Environmental professionals.  

Registration Required - Cost: $175 + GST

Join your neighbors for an evening in the Exhibition. We will be serving up tasty appetizers and you'll have access to a cash bar. A free drink ticket is included with your conference registration.

Join WCS AWWA at the Exhibition After Party. It is open to all conference delegates. Complimentary food and drink will be offered on a limited basis.