WWEM 2008 is Massive Success!

The organisers of the world's largest environmental monitoring event have said that they are delighted with the success of WWEM 2008 and have expressed their gratitude to the Conference and Workshop speakers, the Exhibitors and Delegates who all contributed to an industrious exchange of knowledge on testing, monitoring, technology and regulations.

Speaking on behalf of the organisers, Marcus Pattison said, "Once again, delegates had to work hard in order to maximise the effectiveness of their time at WWEM. Vitally important information was discussed in the Conference including help and advice on the various MCERTS schemes and an update on the new Environmental Permit Regime and Operator Self-Monitoring.
"We were also very impressed with the quality of the Workshops – speakers provided valuable practical help and advice across a broad range of subjects covering almost every aspect of environmental monitoring."

Conference
Whilst the Exhibition and Workshops represented an opportunity to meet the world's leaders in the field of environmental monitoring, the conference themes were assembled with the help of the Environment Agency and as such they focused mainly on regulations that apply to England and Wales.
The Conference sessions were chaired by Stuart Newstead (Secretary of SWIG and formerly Environment Agency) who
commented that attendance was good and delegate feedback had been extremely positive, adding, "Many of the presentations covered themes that related to one or more of the MCERTS schemes and it is pleasing to see that MCERTS is becoming well established in the water sector."
Delegates responded positively to a proposal from Stuart to convert the MCERTS Standards for water monitoring equipment to European (CEN) Standards. Stuart will be looking to kick start this process shortly.
John Tipping, who leads the Environment Agency’s MCERTS team, gave a presentation in which he outlined the Agency’s Better Regulation programme. However, he started by reminding delegates that whilst most environmental performance indicators have shown improvements in recent years, there is no cause for complacency. “For example,” he added, “it is estimated that average life expectancy in the UK is reduced by 7 to 8 months as a result of air
pollution. So, there is clearly a great deal of work ahead of us. We need more businesses to take responsibility for their activities and manage the environment in better ways and for our part, we need to provide clear and accessible advice on how to achieve this.”
John explained how, in April 2008, over 40 separate pieces of environmental regulation have been consolidated into a new Environmental Permit Regime (EPR). EPR has streamlined and combined separate waste and pollution control (PPC) systems thereby enabling a single environmental permit and common procedures. EPR delivers more flexibility for industry, a simpler risk-based system for regulators and continued protection of the environment and human health.
Commenting on the importance of the MCERTS schemes, John said, “Operator self-monitoring (OSM) is enshrined within the EPR and MCERTS is a fundamentally important feature of OSM. It is very pleasing to see the progress MCERTS has made since the last WWEM in 2006; at the previous conference we received a number of complaints and
resistance to the new schemes, but this year the questions that we received during the Conference and at our exhibition stand, were all about how to implement the schemes effectively.”
Subsequent presentations, including that given by the Agency’s Paul Wiggins, provided an update on progress in the MCERTS schemes for:

• Continuous Water Monitoring Equipment
• Direct Toxicity Assessments Of Effluents
• Portable Equipment For Water Monitoring
• Sampling And Chemical Testing Of Water
• Self Monitoring Of Effluent Flow

Paul Wiggins explained that the MCERTS schemes are evolving with the help of all concerned. For example, he mentioned that chlorine and cyanide have been added to the list of parameters for continuous monitors since WWEM 2006 and COD will be added to the portable standard before the end of 2008.
Paul also praised those companies that have already gained MCERTS certificates for their products because the certificates prove that the products ‘do what they say on the tin’ which provides them with a marketing advantage.

Sira's Bob Cooper gave an update on the MCERTS scheme for the self monitoring of effluent flow. He reported excellent progress on water utility processes with a discharge of >50m3/day - all 3600 of which will soon be certified.
From 2007 approximately 500 industrial sites (that have discharge flow in their PPC/EPR permits) also have to comply with the MCERTS flow scheme and the deadline by which site inspections and management system audits must be undertaken, or by which an approved inspector must be contracted, is 31st December 2008.
Bob explained the detailed requirements of a management system inspection and emphasised the fact that "responsibility is nine tenths of quality."
Looking forward, Bob said, "The next stage of MCERTS for water flow will be to include those industrial sites covered by the Water Resources Act 1991."
Debbie Hudson from UKAS gave a presentation on a new MCERTS performance standard (published in July 2008) for organisations conducting the sampling and chemical testing of water. She explained that this new requirement for accreditation has been created as a result of the Environment Agency’s move to Operator Self Monitoring, which for Water Utilities will commence 1st April 2009.

Sampling and chemical testing of water is carried out to assess the quality of the water environment and to assess effluents discharged by businesses to the environment. The first part of this MCERTS scheme focuses on effluent from sewage treatment works, because Water Companies will soon be required to monitor their own effluents. Debbie estimated that initially 2,748 locations will be affected by the new requirement, but that this number will rise as the scheme expands in the future.
She explained that UKAS and the Environment Agency have published a timeline which outlines the key milestones for organisations that wish to hold accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 for this MCERTS Standard.
Water treatment companies are currently submitting applications for accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025. However, the Deadline for applications to MCERTS Waters is 1st January 2009 and the assessments for these applications will be completed by 31st December 2009.
The first grants of accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 for MCERTS Waters will take place from 1st June 2010 at which point accredited laboratories and sampling organisations will be listed on the UKAS web site.

"The PMA Ltd experience was very positive.
Certainly we met a significant number of new potential
customers including both industrial and food
processing sector companies. This is something new
for the WWEM as historically we have met mostly
municipal water companies in the past. Thumbs up all
round for that. The hall itself was very well laid out with
an ever expanding mix of truly excellent exhibits.
A number of customers both old and new stated more
than once that the WWEM had replaced IWEX for them
in terms of monitoring and control instrumentation."
Roger Powell , Sales Director (Analysers),
Process Measurement & Analysis Ltd

Jeff Ruddle from UKAS provided an update on the MCERTS scheme for soils. He said that there are now more than 30 organisations that are accredited to MCERTS for soil analysis covering a wide range of analytes. The scheme was introduced to create a level playing field in soil analysis and to deliver confidence in results.
Jeff highlighted the importance of sampling in achieving an accurate, representative result and cited work by Prof Mike Ramsey at the University of Sussex which showed 94% of uncertainty in test data being derived from sampling. He concluded by saying that without confidence in sampling we cannot have confidence in the whole measurement process.
Continuing the soil assessment theme, Colin Green from QROS outlined the difficulties in interpreting laboratory data for risk assessment and waste classification as a result of the non-homogeneity of soil on contaminated sites. He also demonstrated how the integration of on-site analysis and soil sampling under an MCERTS umbrella can minimise this problem.

MCERTS Certificate Presentations
The Sira sponsored WWEM Gala Dinner included the presentation of MCERTS certificates to companies that have successfully completed the product assessment procedures that are outlined within the various MCERTS schemes.
The MCERTS schemes are operated on behalf of the Environment Agency by Sira Environmental; who are independent of all the interested groups, such as the instrument manufacturers, test laboratories and end-users. The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accredits Sira to undertake the product certification activities which underpin MCERTS.

Before announcing the awards, Sira Director Steve Lower said, “Two years ago, at WWEM 2006, MCERTS for water was in its embryonic stage, but since that time the scheme has made excellent progress and I am now pleased to announce that we have over 26 certificates on the MCERTS web site covering a wide range of 84 water related products.
"It is one thing manufacturers claiming to be the world leaders in levels of accuracy but quite another to be able to provide independent evidence to support the claim.
"MCERTS promotes public confidence in monitoring data and provides industry with a proven framework for choosing monitoring systems and services that meet the Environment Agency's performance requirements.
"I would like to take this opportunity to offer my warmest congratulations to those instrument manufacturers that have made the commitment and I hope that they will all now reap the commercial benefits that certification makes possible."
MCERTS Certificates were awarded to the following companies:

Continuous Water Monitoring Equipment
• ABB Ltd - WaterMaster V Electromagnetic Flowmeter with WaterMaster Transmitter
• Aquamatic Ltd - S50 Automatic Waste Water Sampler
• Endress & Hauser Ltd - ASP Station 2000 Automatic Wastewater Sampler
• HACH LANGE GmbH - Bühler 1000 Wastewater Sampler
• Mobrey Ltd - MSP 900 FH-A Level Transmitter (with Remote Temperature Probe) & MCU 900 Series Transmitter Control Unit
• Rosemount Analytical Inc - Range of pH analysers & sensors
• Siemens Flow Instruments Ltd - MAG 3100 Electromagnetic Flowmeter, MAG 5100W Electromagnetic Flowmeter, MAG 8000 & MAG 8000CT Battery Powered Electromagnetic Flowmeter
• Sirco Controls Ltd - 10 Wastewater Samplers – GENIE Series
• YSI Inc. - 600 Series Multiparameter Sonde (DO, pH & Turbidity Monitor), 6600 Series Multiparameter Sonde (DO, pH & Turbidity Monitor), 6820/6920 Series Multiparameter Sonde (DO, pH & Turbidity Monitor)

MCERTS - Software Envirosoft Ltd - CEMSuite CEMQual module
Jon Shepherd accepted the MCERTS certificate on behalf of HACH LANGE for the company’s BÜHLER 1000 automatic water sampler. Following the presentation, Jon said, “We are delighted to receive this certificate because it extends the broad range of samplers that we now offer with MCERTS.
“The BÜHLER 1000 sampler is easy to transport and is ideal for use in wastewater treatment plants, industrial applications and for monitoring surface waters. Flexibility, ruggedness and reliability are the key features of this device. Importantly, it can be used to store samples for up to 48 hours at 4 °C without freezing which means that it can be left unattended for long periods."
Following a presentation of the first ever MCERTS certificate for a multiparameter continuous water quality monitor, Darren Hanson from YSI said, “As the first company to receive this certificate we have had to work very closely with the Environment Agency to ensure that the testing procedure is appropriate, robust and reliable. Our equipment performed extremely well in the trials and the report that resulted from them will provide a high level of confidence to prospective customers from all over the world.”

Workshops
Visitors to WWEM 2008 were able to take their pick from a range of more than 60 different Workshop presentations over the two days in Telford. With six rooms hosting the sessions, visitors were spoilt for choice as they listened to a variety of talks on all aspects of water, wastewater and environmental monitoring.
Among the most popular sessions included that given by WFS’ Ian Crowther on Secure Wireless Water Monitoring and in particular underwater radio frequency technology.
He explained the benefits of this technology, including its ability to interface from water to air and also through ice.

Jon Shepherd from HACH LANGE presented a Workshop entitled ‘Energy Savings with Low Maintenance Ammonium Probes’ in which he described a number of case studies for the ‘NH4D’ ammonium probe. The NH4D sc sensor is designed to provide continuous trending of ammonium levels for process control including the nitrification process in the aeration tanks and lanes of wastewater treatment plants with less than 30% industrial waste.
Jon described how the instrument has been employed at wastewater treatment plants to:

• lower operational costs
• optimise treatment processes
• ensure compliance with ammonium discharge consents
• issue alarms (by telemetry including SMS texts)

Users of the NH4D have commented that it provides them with an increased ability to identify illegal discharges upstream and to maintain discharge quality below consent levels. For example, inlet alarm conditions can be dealt with in a number of ways including flow management, dilution, chemical dosing and dormant tanks.
Remote and Unattended Monitoring of Heavy Metals was the focus of Knut Schroder’s Workshop. Knut, from Sensaqua, told delegates about the different kinds of measuring electrodes available, with homogeneous electrodes being preferred to film electrodes for heavy metals monitoring.
Martin Butterfield from Cogent Environmental also addressed the subject of heavy metals monitoring. Martin outlined a number of case studies including an application in the United States at which Cogent's OVA 5000 instrument provides continuous monitoring of Arsenic.
Commenting on the benefits of the system, Martin said, "Once the instrument was installed it became possible for the site laboratory to be closed outside working hours, which delivers substantial cost savings. Data feedback has enabled improvements in plant efficiency and substantially reduces the risk of discharge consent exceedence."
YSI Hydrodata received a great deal of interest in the ‘HydroSAM’ which featured in their Workshop entitled, ‘Raw Water Intake Monitors – a Lower Cost Alternative.’
The HydroSAM was developed to provide a more reliable, lower maintenance water quality monitoring system than the traditional ‘wall board’ systems that involve a complicated series of pipes and in-line sensors. The YSI Hydrodata Workshop explained the advantages that have been realised for continuous monitoring at raw water intakes.
Possibly one of the most exciting innovations at WWEM 2008 was outlined by David Vincent, a Director of Intellitect Water. David described a new technology that has been designed, patented and successfully trialled for monitoring water in pipe distribution networks. Importantly, the new technology includes the ability to measure chlorine accurately, without reagents and with a very low maintenance requirement. He explained that the ability to measure water quality remotely and continuously at multiple sites throughout the network provides water providers with highly valuable data with which to improve process efficiency, customer service and drinking water quality.
Dr Frank Honold of WTW spoke of the advantages of the Insitu probe for online monitoring of ammonium and nitrate in wastewater. He told delegates that users experienced no time delay of signals, low investment costs and optimised control.
The developing role of wireless communications for the transmission of environmental data was the main theme in a workshop presented by Simon Wills, Managing Director at OTT Hydrometry. Simon gave an overview of the wireless communication options that are available and showed recent trends towards GPRS and the inclusion of Internet based technologies. He also explained that data collection is moving from systems that poll to those that ‘push’ – i.e. those that issue data at preset intervals and/or following preset alarm criteria.
In order to exemplify the latest techniques, Simon logged on to a web site displaying real time data as it is telemetered from a network of 4 buoys that form an integral part of an environmental protection system for a large construction project in NE Donegal in the Republic of Ireland that provides early warning of potential pollution events, this demonstrated the value of live data on the web.
Camlab’s David Miller said: “It was a good show, our workshops were well attended and we took a good number of quality leads on the stand. With 24 attendees, the workshop presentation from Camlab and Insitu Inc, on Low Flow Sampling was very popular and hopefully will encourage the use of this technique in the future.”
Paul Williams, Sales Director at Aquaco, added: “Following Aquaco’s workshop ‘Rainwater and Grey Water Recycling Systems and Waste Water Treatment Systems’ the stand was inundated. We can honestly say that across the two days Aquaco achieved a record number of genuine sales leads.”

Exhibition
Intellitect Water has developed a unique technology for continuous monitoring of water in the pipeline distribution network. Commenting on the company’s experience at WWEM, Intellitect CEO Tony Halker, said, “We were delighted with the response that we received to our products. We are creating a new market for monitoring the UK’s largest unmonitored asset, so, as a specialist event targeted at the monitoring community, WWEM provided an excellent opportunity for us to discuss the enormous benefits that our technology can provide with key people from both the UK water sector and overseas.”
Exhibitors were full of praise for WWEM 2008, citing an excellent and high-quality attendance, informative and worthy conference topics and overall organisation as key reasons for a successful exhibition.
Dr Rayne Longhurst, Commercial Manager at exhibitors EnPrint said: “WWEM 2008 was my first exhibitor’s event and was delighted with the excellent exposure for our company, stimulating discussions with visitors and hopefully some useful contacts made over the two days.”
Tony Hoyle, ABB UK Flow Products Manager said, "We found the exhibition and workshops very focused this year. Many more industrial PPC operators came along in addition to the UK Water industry professionals. The workshops that we gave were well attended and highlighted interest in achieving compliance with Effluent Flow Monitoring arrangements and MCERTS. We were also very pleased to receive our First closed-pipe electromagnetic flow meter MCERTS certificate for WaterMaster. A lot of interest was also shown in our new Analyser platform and videograhic recorders - a great event all round."
HACH LANGE participated in the WWEM exhibition and Marketing Manager Sarah Blayds said,”We were delighted with both the volume and quality of enquiries that we received for our process monitoring equipment and our laboratory analysis instruments and reagents. It was also very pleasing to note the level of interest that we received in the cooperation that we have established with MWH for real-time control of nutrient removal with increased efficiency and lower energy costs for activated sludge systems.”
Simon Wyre, Director of Monitoring Systems said," Generally, I thought the organisation of the event was good and we received a number of good quality enquiries."
Chris Welsh, Managing Director of Cogent Environmental added: "We found the WWEM 2008 exhibition to be well attended by the right sort of customers for our products.”
YSI Hydrodata also participated in the WWEM exhibition at which the company launched two exciting new products.
In the field of river discharge and bathymetry YSI SonTek unveiled a new River Surveyor instrument employing the latest Acoustic Doppler Profiler (ADP) technology. The new device operates an incredible 9 beams and provides a host of new features which deliver superb accuracy across the range of riverine conditions from 15cm to 80m depth.

For the measurement of water quality, YSI launched the new 'big 4' (temp, conductivity, pH and dissolved oxygen) model from the 'Professional' range of water quality meters. The Professional Plus can also measure one of ammonium, nitrate, chloride or redox.
Commenting on the Exhibition, YSI’s Ian Thompson said, “WWEM was a fantastic event for YSI Hydrodata; our stand was extremely busy on both days and as such we were able to demonstrate the new products to a large number of existing and potential customers."
Keith Flint, Sales and Marketing Director at Pulsar Process Measurement, added: “Overall we had a very successful two days at WWEM 2008. The event has grown significantly from the previous exhibition and we were delighted with the number and quality of visitors to our stand. We will be following up a number of interesting enquiries as a result of our attendance at WWEM.”
Guy Fitzpatrick, Business Development/Product Marketing Manager (Monitoring & Control) at ITT Water and Wastewater added: “We found the exhibition run very efficiently by a very friendly team. Thanks to all involved.”
Simon Wills, OTT Hydrometry Managing Director, was delighted with his company’s participation in WWEM 2008. He reports a good number of new enquiries, one of which has already resulted in an order for a large number of the ‘Orpheus Mini’ borehole water level loggers. “As a specialist event, we don’t expect vast crowds but the quality of the visitors was extremely high – every visitor to our stand had a genuine interest in monitoring water quality level or flow.”
Peter Ward, Senior Product Manager at Mobrey Measurement Division, Emerson Process Management, was another delighted exhibitor. “WWEM 2008 was very well organised with a good level of attendance,” he explained. “We had some worthwhile discussions with customers and a good level of positive enquiries.”
Roger Powell, Sales Director at Process, Measurement and Analysis, added: “The overall PMA experience was very positive. We met a significant number of new potential customers including both industrial and food processing sector companies.
The hall itself was well laid out, with an ever-expanding mix of truly excellent exhibits. We are looking forward to returning in WWEM 2010.”
Michael Strahand, General Manager (Europe) for ATi, said: “ATi thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of WWEM 2008 and are already considering what they will do at the next WWEM. Our stand was busy on both days and some new and exciting potential customers spent time with us. Marcus Pattison and his excellent team did a great job organising everything and the dodgems especially were much appreciated despite the fact that an ATi salesperson fractured his arm while ramming into a delegate! Good show, we'll be back."
Partech’s Angus Fosten added: “WWEM 2008 was the best exhibition that Partech has attended for many years. A great launch for our new brand image.”
Pollution and Process Monitoring’s Sales and Marketing Manager Steve Tuck, said: “WWEM 2008 was a good opportunity for networking and the whole event was organised very well.”
Jason Venn, International Account Manager at PG Instruments, added: “Over the two days we received a good number of qualified leads which we will hopefully be able to turn into sales. The attendance was good and if we these enquiries turn to sales then we would definitely appear again.”
Visitors and delegates at WWEM 2008 commented very favourably on the event. James Carlyle, General Manager at Ashtead Technology Rentals said, “As a supplier of instrumentation for hire, we need to be aware of all the latest technological developments and as such WWEM was a great opportunity to see almost all of the water instrumentation sector under one roof. As a result of my visit, I anticipate being able to add several new products to our instrument portfolio.”
Commenting on WWEM 2008, Ian Mewett, ICA Project Engineer at Yorkshire Water, said, "I would like to thank the whole team of organisers for the WWEM 2008 exhibition, I was only able to attend on the second day, but found it very informative as well as a great opportunity to check out what is happening in the industry, again many thanks for all your effort. I will be looking forward to the next WWEM in November 2010."