WWEM 2010 Conference details announced

The organisers of WWEM 2010, the world´s largest environmental monitoring event, have announced that this year´s Conference title will be ´Water Monitoring in the 21st Century´.

The Conference presentations will provide information on the latest regulations affecting process and effluent monitoring with authoritative speakers from the Environment Agency, ABB, SIRA, and UKAS.

Taking place over two days (10th and 11th November) at the Telford International Centre, the Conference will be repeated on both days and chaired by British Water.

Speakers from the Environment Agency will provide an update on Better Regulation and the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) and include the latest position on operator self-monitoring (OSM) and the role of MCERTS and Operator Monitoring Assessment (OMA) in supporting the move to OSM for industry and the Water Utilities.

ABB will provide an instrumentation perspective to MCERTS and the Self Monitoring of Effluent Flow under EPR and OMA.

It is now over 5 years since the first MCERTS Site Conformity Inspection Certificate was issued. Over this period, nearly 4000 site inspections have been performed and a speaker from Sira will outline the latest advice for process operators and explain likely future developments.

UKAS will provide an overview on how it interacts with regulators in the water industry and how regulatory requirements are interpreted with respect to ISO 17025 and UKAS accreditation. The presentation will include developments in the 21st century with an emphasis on sampling.

New Lab Conference for WWEM 2010

The organisers of WWEM 2010, the world´s largest environmental monitoring event, have announced that this year´s event will include a dedicated Conference for the laboratory sector.

Focusing on efficiency, sustainability and accreditation, the Conference will address the key issues facing commercial laboratories in the new low-carbon, post-recession era and will be most relevant to analytical staff within the water, food/beverage, manufacturing, processing and environmental sectors.

Laboratory efficiency

With pressure on the costs of analytical services and demand from customers for faster results, efficiency has long been the key to success for laboratories. However, during 2009 improved efficiency provided a path to survival for commercial laboratories around the world and as countries emerge from recession the most efficient will be in the best position to prosper. The Lab Conference at WWEM 2010 will therefore examine ways to improve efficiency, particularly within the context of laboratory upgrade and new lab design.

Accreditation

Myriad standards, regulations and guidelines apply to analytical laboratories and the Lab Conference will examine the ways in which these can contribute to the overall success of a laboratory.

Sustainability

The UK government has pledged that emissions of greenhouse gases will be cut by 80% CO2 equivalent (measured against 1990 levels) by 2050. However, over the same period Britain´s population is expected to grow between 15% to 30%and it is likely that most industries  will be required to meet higher quality and environmental standards – all driving up energy consumption. It follows, therefore, that all industries and their supply chains will be under pressure to reduce energy costs and contribute to the Government´s target.

Analytical laboratories have an important role to play in the achievement of sustainability objectives. Firstly by reducing the carbon footprint of their own activities, including the delivery of samples and results, and secondly through the provision of test data to inform operational decisions.

WWEM 2010 will also include a programme of more than 70 Workshops and an international Exhibition featuring the majority of the world´s leading providers of test and monitoring instrumentation and services. Entry to the exhibition and workshops will be free (saving a daily admission fee of £20) to all pre-registered visitors, who will also be entitled to free onsite parking, free lunches and refreshments on both days of the event.

Entry to the Conference will be £55/day or £100 for both days.

The WWEM 2010 organisers have reported that the majority of the stands at the exhibition have already been reserved and that the remainder are being allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Further details are available at www.wwem.uk.com