WWEM 2008 has published details of the Conference topics that will headline this year's event at the Telford International Centre on the 5th and 6th November.

The WWEM (Water, Wastewater and Environmental Monitoring) Conference topics have been designed to mirror the most recent changes in the monitoring sector for water and land, with presentations from the Environment Agency, SIRA, TUV NEL, UKAS, QROS and Critical Flow Systems.

Speakers will provide an update on the Environment Agency's Modern Regulation Programme and its impact on monitoring, including the roles of MCERTS and OMA (Operator Monitoring Assessment) in the delivery of the programme.
OMA has been successfully applied to the monitoring of industrial air emissions and is now being extended to include discharges to the aquatic environment.

The OMA scheme is designed to provide a 'yard stick' by which operators' monitoring arrangements can be measured in a consistent and transparent manner. OMA will produce a score that reflects the quality and reliability of self-monitoring undertaken by an operator. It consists of four sections:

OMA 1- Management, training and competence of personnel;
OMA 2 - Fitness for purpose of monitoring methods;
OMA 3 - Maintenance and calibration of monitoring equipment;
OMA 4 - Quality assurance of monitoring.

Each section contains a series of elements, or questions, against which the Agency will assess the operator’s arrangements and award a score. Each element will be assigned a score of one to five. (The higher the score the better the monitoring)

The implementation of OMA has meant that process operators are looking for ways to reduce risk and uncertainty in monitoring, and several presentations will describe ways in which the MCERTS scheme can help.

In addition to the use of continuous and portable monitoring equipment, other presentations will cover the application of MCERTS in the analysis of contaminated land and in the sampling and laboratory analysis of water.

Entry to WWEM 2008 will be free to all Pre-Registered visitors (saving a daily admission fee of £20)
Pre-Registered visitors will be entitled to free onsite parking, free lunches and refreshments on both days of the event, and complimentary entry to all workshops.

Visitors to WWEM include staff at every level within regulators, water companies, industrial manufacturers, consultants, education, researchers, process engineers and laboratory analysts.
Registration and workshop information is now available here