Wwem 2006: The water testing and monitoring event

It's bigger and better, and it's almost upon us. Next month's Water, Wastewater and Environmental Monitoring 2006 event is an essential date for your diary. Here's a preview of the show


Following the success of the inaugural Water, Wastewater and Environmental Monitoring (Wwem) event in 2005, a much larger venue has been chosen for this year.

Wwem 2006 takes place at the Telford International Centre on November 1-2. The event includes an exhibition, two conferences and more than 50 workshops, which focus on the regulations, procedures and technologies involved with compliance monitoring of aqueous discharges to the environment. The Environment Agency will provide the latest information on the monitoring requirements, and a series of small workshops will provide practical advice and case studies on the latest monitoring technologies.

Wwem is an essential diary date for anyone responsible for an aqueous discharge but the event is relevant to anyone involved with water sampling, testing or monitoring.

Workshop topics will include residual chlorine monitoring, VOC analysis, optical monitoring technologies, fluorimetry, non-contact turbidity, on-line river monitoring, trace element analysis, heavy-metals testing, errors and uncertainty in flow measurements and groundwater monitoring.

Wwem also includes an exhibition featuring the latest products available from most of the instrument manufacturers active in the UK market. Companies displaying products at Wwem include Dionex, which launched the UltiMate 3000 HPLC series earlier this year. These systems address chromatographers’ needs for performance, reliability and ease of use more holistically and more completely than any other HPLC on the market. The UltiMate 3000 was awarded the prestigious Gold award at this year’s Pittsburgh Conference.

Visitors who attend Dionex’s workshop on Environmental Analysis by Liquid Chromatography on Thursday, November 2, will hear about the most innovative developments in ion chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography and sample preparation techniques for environmental analysis.

Metrohm UK will show how its Applikon Agency can offer online analyses bridging the gap between process and the lab. Metrohm will also show automated potentiometer titrators and voltammetry trace analysers. YSI Hydrodata will show its latest products for analysing water quality, levels and flow data collection. It has launched three new profilers designed to be either buoy mounted, pontoon mounted or for fixed sites. ABB will show its new Calmaster 2 Flow meter verification system. This is the first in-situ portable verification system for either battery or mains powered electromagnetic flow meters.

Pressure Systems will be showcasing its extensive range of hydrostatic level and pressure transducers for level measurements. The product range includes standard- and narrow-bore analogue output transducers with up to 0.05% accuracy. New products on display will include the latest water Monitor submersible level transducer with integral data logger.

The event’s highlight is perhaps the Gala Presentation Dinner at which more companies and individuals receive MCerts certificates for both products and engineer competence. A number of manufacturers hope to receive MCerts certificates.

Sira Environmental Limited operates the inspection scheme by appointing MCerts Inspectors, auditing work and issuing MCerts Site Conformity Certificates.

Based in Kent, Sira certifies equipment that meets MCerts requirements. Sira Certification Service managing director Steve Lower says: “There are already five products with MCerts certificates in the water sector and a significant number are progressing through the certification process. These products are manufactured by almost all of the major players in the UK market and we anticipate that the MCerts situation in the water sector will soon mirror that of the air sector in which certification is widespread with around 70 certificates having been issued.”

Sira Environmental Limited will give a presentation at Wwem Conference A,

called Application of the MCerts Flow Inspection Scheme to PPC Installations. And staff will be on hand at their exhibition stand to discuss any MCerts related topics.

The Environment Agency’s Paul Wiggins will provide an update on MCerts for water and Operator Monitoring Assessment (OMA), the agency’s auditing scheme. Paul will report progress on Self Monitoring of Effluent Flow within the Water Industry.

The requirement to use MCerts equipment is being included within permits or consents. However, there is no need to remove existing equipment if it can be shown to be operating within the agency’s requirements. When new equipment is necessary, MCerts instruments should be purchased unless it can be demonstrated that no MCerts instruments are yet available for the most appropriate monitoring technology for a particular process.

For the first time a second conference (B) on analytical techniques in water and environmental monitoring takes place (on November 1 only). A separate Ciwem conference called Sensor Technology in the Water Industry will run alongside Wwem at the Telford International Centre on November 2, 2006. This one-day event will evaluate the present status of sensor technology.

Entry to the Workshops and Exhibition will be free for those that pre-register at www.wwem.uk.com.

MCerts is the Environment Agency’s Monitoring Certification Scheme

providing a framework for environmental monitoring. MCerts applies to discharges to air, water and land. There are five certification schemes important to the aquatic environment:

* Continuous water monitoring equipment

* Portable water monitoring equipment

* Self-monitoring of effluent flow

* Direct toxicity assessment

* Validation of software

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