Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – Noon
T1: AI Can Help Optimize Water Treatment
IWC Rep: Tisha Scroggin-Wicker, Burns & McDonnell, Kansas City, MO
Session Chair: Tom Higgins, Worley, St. Augustine, FL
Discussion Leader: Omkar Lokare, Omkar Lokare, Woburn, MA
Artificial Intelligence (AI) suddenly is having a once-a-generation impact on how we all live and work. For those of us in the water field, it is being incorporated into how we design, construct and operate water treatment systems. This session explores 1) AI-driven optimization to a local scrubber reclaim water system within a semiconductor facility, 2) optimizing cooling tower design and chemical addition to minimize water consumption and prevent fouling, 3) optimizing water treatment ultrafilter backwashing, and 4) real-time optimization of semiconductor water RO treatment using ion specific sensors and intelligent distributed control system.
T2: Food, Beverage & the Evolution of Water Reuse
IWC Rep: Ed Greenwood, P.Eng., BCEE, WSP, Cambridge, ON, Canada
Session Chair: Julia Mercer, Newterra, Coraopolis, PA
Discussion Leader: Asher Benedict, PE, BCEE, Arcadis, Dallas, TX
Food and beverage manufacturers are implementing advanced water treatment technologies as the industry evolves to expand production capacity within existing footprints, address water supply limitations, and improve wastewater management.
Presentations will cover full scale advanced treatment projects including equalization, anaerobic treatment, membrane bioreactors, and membrane reclaim systems in the dairy, beverage, and potato industries.
Speakers will share operational data, factors influencing system upgrades, implementation challenges, and lessons learned from startup and operation of advanced facilities.
T3: Brine Your Own Problems! – Increasing recovery and preventing fouling in reverse osmosis systems to optimize brine management
IWC Rep: Tom Imbornone, Wigen Water Technologies, Chaska, MN
Session Chair: Daniel Wilson, Kiewit, Autsin, TX
Discussion Leader: Ashley Jones, Stantec, Nashville, TN
Brine management and membrane fouling are the biggest obstacles to optimizing RO, MLD, and ZLD costs and. This session evaluates multiple different fouling mechanisms on RO systems and how different membrane selection and operation can improve system performance. Operations look at membrane the use of LSSRO, membrane chemistry, and inorganic and organic fouling mechanisms.
T4: Innovations in Produced Water Treatment in Oil & Gas Operations
IWC Rep: Ivan Morales, Nalco, and Ecolab Commpany, Houston, TX
Session Chair: Juvencio Casanova, Veolia, The Woodlands, TX
Discussion Leader: Bryan Hansen, Burns & McDonnell, Kansas City, MO
This session explores advances in produced water treatment across upstream oil and gas applications. The topics covered include a novel analytical method for measuring chelated hardness in SAGD produced water to prevent boiler fouling, a comparative evaluation of five desalination technology categories for produced water reuse, developing standardized inorganic scale risk frameworks adaptable to desalination and brine management, and chemistry-enabled operational flexibility during SAGD lime softener pretreatment.