C FACTOR
Florida Water Resources Conference 2023! Patrick “Murf ” Murphy
President, FWPCOA
T
he 2023 Florida Water Resources Conference (FWRC) was amazing! The conference was held May 31-June 3, 2023, in Orlando at the Gaylord Palms. If you weren’t ridden hard and put away wet by the end of this event, you must have been hiding somewhere! With meetings, technical programs, exhibits, awards luncheons, competitions, networking— and more—there’s no better opportunity in the state to help advance your career! There were a lil’ over 380 booths in the exhibit hall and I’m pretty sure FWRC broke the record this year for attendees.
Conference Registration and Florida Water Resource Conference and Journal Board Meetings Wednesday, Day 1, from 9 to 10 a.m., was the FWRC and Florida Water Resources Journal (FWRJ) board meetings. The meeting with the FWRC officers and representatives from the three member associations (Florida Section American Water Works Association [FSAWWA], Florida Water Environment Association [FWEA], and Florida Water and Pollution Control Operators Association [FWPCOA]), is the culmination of meetings throughout the year to establish a successful conference. Each association has seven board members and three trustees, and both meetings have a member and trustees meeting. All of FWPCOA’s members and trustees were present for both the FWRC and FWRJ board and trustee meetings: Mike Darrow, Rim Bishop, Al Monteleone, Glenn Whitcomb, Athena Tipaldos, Scott Ruland, and me (the last three
being the trustees). This was immediately followed by the 10 to 11 a.m. FWRJ board meetings, with the same intent—to help with the success of both organizations. Many thanks go to the executive board members of FWRC and FWRJ and the other member associations for all they have done, but in particular to Mish Clark, the conference executive director, for getting a new software program up and running for this year. I absolutely have an “app” disability, but even I was able to download the conference app (new this year!) and navigate through it during the conference, even though I still had my copy of the June FWRJ (it was available onsite and included the conference program) with highlighted and red-lined sections to fall back on. Registration for the conference was pretty fantastic. At the times that I volunteered at the registration booths, almost everyone was able to put their last name in and—bingo!— out came their badge with the QR code that would allow them into the conference events they signed up for, and get their continuing education units (CEUs) or professional development hours (PDHs). It seemed like I should have had more time before getting to the Operators Showcase, but by the time I got checked in, moved my truck, unloaded, and got lost on the wrong floors trying to get back from the hotel to the conference center, I just made it.
Operators Showcase and Workshop
The Florida Water Resources Conference and Florida Water Resources Journal board meetings.
FWPCOA Operators Showcase, with Dr. Chris Owen presenting (standing left) and Tom King moderating (right).
20 July 2023 • Florida Water Resources Journal
On Wednesday, Day 1, from 2 to 4 p.m., the FWPCOA Operators Showcase was held and was much more successful this year! I believe some of the Constant Contact notifications helped with that, because the lure of free beer last year didn’t seem to (which we had this year, too!). I do believe we also had a better location this year and we had several powerhouse speakers: S Dr. Chris Owen, associate vice president and director of water and reuse innovations with Hazen and Sawyer, spoke on the effects of perand polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on the utility industry to lead off the showcase. S John O’Brien, chair of the Direct Potable Reuse Certification Committee for FWPCOA and an A licensed operator working for Seacoast Utilities, provided an overview of direct potable reuse (DPR). S Dr. Carlyn Higgins, an engineer with Hazen and Sawyer, talked about indirect potable reuse (IPR), equipment, and operator certification,