2026 AWWA Annual Conference (ACE26)

8:30 am

Biofilter Microbial Tools and Community Analysis
Speaker: Melina Bautista

9:00 am

Calibration of Water Distribution System Models
Speakers: Matthew Huang and Eric McLeskey

9:00 am

Practical ML/AI Applications for Water Planning, Management, and Optimization
Speakers: Yoko Koyama and Craig Jariz

1:00 pm

To Infinity and Beyond! (The Specbook): Learn to Design, Construct and Operate Water System Equipment using AWWA Standards & Manuals
Speakers: John Civardi and Rosemary Smud

1:00 pm

Successful Infrastructure Communications through Asset Management
Speakers: Felicia James

1:45 pm

The Work Before the Work: Essential Preliminary Efforts in Mega Water Treatment Plant Projects
Speaker: Chris Cleveland

1:45 pm

Bridging the Divide Between Data Centers and Communities
Speakers: Taylor Nelson

1:45 pm

The Water-Energy Nexus in Practice – Development of an Energy Master Plan for Water Supply Operations
Speakers: Coral Taylor

2:45 pm

Pilot Testing Different Biological Filter Media Configurations to Optimize Filter Production and Meet Water Quality Goals
Speakers: Greg Pope

2:45 pm

The Use of AMI Data for Hydraulic Modeling – Panel Discussion
Speakers: Matthew Huang

3:30 pm

From Concept to Community: How Women in Water is Transforming the Southeast Texas Water Workforce
Speakers: Xi Zhao

4:30 pm

Integrated Planning at Loudoun Water: Growth, Climate, and Data Center Uncertainty
Speakers: Jessica Fritsche and Darrin Geldert (Loudoun Water)

4:30 pm

Beyond Hydraulics: An Integrated Modeling Framework for Predicting Distribution System Water Quality
Speakers: Julia Semmens

9:00 am

Four Years of Proof: How PureSoJo is Shaping Utah’s Path to Full-Scale DPR
Speaker: Stetson Bassett

9:30 am

Digital Twin: Blue Plan-It® Model for NEWPP Expansion
Speakers: Chenjun Li and Charlie He

9:30 am

Achieving PFAS Compliance with Regenerable IX: City of Tampa’s PFAS Pilot
Speakers: Melanie Pickett

10:15 am

DC Water Evaluates Potable Reuse as Supply Resilience Strategy
Speakers: Eva Steinle-Darling

10:45 am

AQUAgen: Empowering the Next Generation of Water Heroes
Speakers: Katrina Cancio

1:15 pm

Building a Climate-Resilient Capital Plan: One Water Honolulu’s Climate Change Adaptation Framework
Speakers: Sunshine Saucedo

1:15 pm

Modernizing a 20-Year-Old Membrane Filtration Plant – Mountain Regional’s State-of-the-Art Expansion Project
Speakers: Daniel Hugaboom and Jessica DiCaprio (Mountain Regional Water Special Service District)

3:00 pm

When Water Availability Pushes Us to More Challenging Sources: Piloting Pretreatment Alternatives Upstream of Reverse Osmosis
Speakers: Bradley Buswell and Josh Hogge (Weber Basin Water Conservancy District)

4:00 pm

Making Use of Models and Tools – Creating an Integrated Plan and Platform for Tarrant Regional Water District
Speakers: Jessica Fritsche and Amy Kaarlela (TRWD)

9:30 am

A Catalyst for Consistency: Setting a Standard for Manganese Oxide Filter Media
Speaker: John Civardi and Jonathan Reuther (American Water Company)

10:15 am

Next-Generation Filter Control at a Large Water Treatment Plant: From Manual Backwash to High Performance Automation
Speaker: Catherine Shipman, Quinton Borseth and Jesse Hunter (Nashville Metro Water Services)

10:15 am

State-Level Water Supply Planning with Local Insights
Speaker: Amber Wooten and John Rehring

11:15 am

Expand Without Expanding: Increasing Filtration Capacity and Improving Filtration Within Existing Footprint
Speaker: Bradley Buswell and David McLean (Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District)

11:15 am

Does How We Model Fire Flows Make a Difference Anyway?
Speaker: Matthew Huang

11:15 am

Securing Every Drop: Building Water Supply Resilience
Speaker: Eric McLeskey

1:45 pm

When Small Details Make Big Waves: Lessons Learned from NEWPP Expansion Operation
Speaker: Chenjun Li and Sarah Berkey

2:15 pm

Bridging Centuries: Revitalizing Nashville’s Landmark Omohundro Water Treatment Plant with GAC Technology for the Next Century
Speaker: Ryan Anderson

2:15 pm

Bug Out – Pathogen Sampling and Analysis Considerations for Log Reduction Values for Direct Potable Reuse
Speaker: Jason Assouline