A nine-hour travel day is enough to put a damper on anyone’s mood. Flying out of a crummy and aging Cleveland-Hopkins airport at 3:40pm isn’t exactly icing on the cake either.
Sitting at the airport, I picked up on the stained white flooring and messy carpets in the terminals. A janitor tried their best to keep the white floors shiny and the carpets swept. The runway was littered but looked well kept. The concrete of the taxiways took on an orange hue from decades of wear.
All this, I knew, were signs of aging infrastructure that went far beyond what my eyes could see.
I boarded my plane and settled in for a four-and-a-half-hour flight. I’m a big Coca-Cola enjoyer on flights. It is a sweet treat, and the carbonation usually settles my stomach from the nerves of traveling. The snacks were good too. In fact, I still have a small package of “a delectable blend of rye bagel chips, garlic bread bites and mini pretzel twists” that I kept from my flight home — the perfect salty combination with a sweet soda.
Then, after forgetting about the three-hour time change, I landed in California. The sun was still out, beaming out of a clear sky. My mood improved immediately.
I took an hour long Uber ride to my hotel in Anaheim and met other members of our Water Group for a team dinner. Two burgers and a chicken sandwich across the three of us. The food was great and made the perfect companion to top off a travel day.
The next morning, I awoke for ACE. I had a brief walk to the Anaheim Convention Center.
I walked into the glass façade, grabbed my press credentials and quickly went upstairs for the keynote speech.
While wandering the halls, I got a glimpse of the main convention hall into the mammoth of a show that is the American Water Works Association’s (AWWA) Annual Conference & Expo (ACE).
Patricia Mulroy, CEO of Sustainable Strategies, delivered an energetic keynote speech. She focused on the aging infrastructure of our country.
“We’ve become paralyzed, we’re afraid to build,” said Mulroy in the keynote. “The industry will fall apart if we don’t get rid of our paralysis.”
She called for water professionals to be audacious, and not be afraid of audacious solutions.
“What a start to the show,” I thought to myself.
As someone new to the industry, it has become apparent that an aging workforce and infrastructure will soon plague all industries with issues. We are expected to lose one-third of the workforce due to age, losing out on years of experience in the water sector.
I made my way down to the main conference hall. Down two sets of escalators and through a vast wall of doors into the main hall.
I walked onto plush carpet and finally realized the industrial behemoth that is the water industry.
I was met with state-of-the-art booths that featured some of the newest technology on the market.
Shiny new pumps, fittings, valves, membranes and other technologies that most water professionals have become accustomed to—all foreign to me as a first-time attendee.
It became apparent to me upon first walking into the convention center that the water industry was tackling our aging infrastructure problem head on.
From the aging Cleveland airport to the innovative new technologies being displayed at ACE, I knew change was imminent.
I was lucky enough to receive insight on new products, via booth visits, with some of the largest manufacturers in the water industry; Xylem, Mueller, Badger Meter, Cla-Val and others.
New technologies were prominently displayed at the Innovation Hub, where companies like 120Water and Blue-Conduit displayed their latest offerings.
I attended sessions that were hosted by prominent water professionals and lectures that were held by lesser-known names, up-and-comers who were working behind the scenes to change how the water industry functions.
One of which was the Chicago Department of Water Management, who have been implementing lead testing for their customers. They’ve developed their own software to monitor and track everything from the delivery of their packages to the data received by their water testing kits. Look out for a story on that soon on the WaterWorld website.
ACE 2024 was a great first introduction to the water industry for me. It was nice to put faces to familiar names that I have been in contact with via interviews and emails. It was a fantastic learning experience, and it was great to see some of the products and technologies up close.
ACE 2024 has delivered a new perspective for me. Now I can understand where all those pipes and fittings go, and how they operate. While driving around, I can see construction projects near roadways and have an idea of the products being used for wastewater, sewer systems, and clean drinking water infrastructure.
If you are new to the industry, or a lifelong juggernaut, ACE is a must.
Now I am settled back in Ohio, missing the California sun and the mild LA weather, excited for ACE25 in Denver, Colorado, from June 8-11, 2025.
Next up for us is WEFTEC in New Orleans, October 5-9, 2024. I look forward to seeing new and familiar faces, and learning even more about the water industry. See you there!
