Our Mission: To connect and enrich the Illinois water community
and increase the awareness of the impact and value of water.

Illinois Water Environment Association

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more info...		2/16/2026 

Centrate - When is it an Ideal Stream for Resource Recovery?
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Noon to 1 p.m.
Zoom Webinar

The IWEA Biosolids Committee is pleased to welcome Shubhashini Oza, who will present a case study of eight Ohio water resource recovery facilities. Biosolids dewatering processes leave behind a liquid stream containing high nutrient and metal levels which can be useful, but also have potential for causing operational and maintenance issues in water resource recovery facilities.
 
Speaker: Shubhashini Oza
Shubha Oza is a Process Engineer for the Research & Innovation group at Brown and Caldwell. Shubha has over 20 years of experience in applied research and development. She has a Ph.D. in Environmental Systems from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She leads research projects related to reuse, wastewater and biosolids at Brown and Caldwell. She currently serves as Vice Chair for the AWWA Membrane Committee and State Representative for the State of South Carolina’s Reuse Chapter.

Hosted by IWEA's Biosolids Committee
Members $20 | Nonmembers $30
1PDH/TCH

Zoom webinar link will be forwarded by separate email the morning of February 18.
more info...		2/18/202612:00pm to 1:00pmRobert Podgorny

IWEA – IWWSG Joint Industrial Pretreatment Dinner Meeting
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
5 to 8 p.m.
Chuck’s Southern Comforts Café (Darien, IL)

Join us for our annual joint association dinner meeting, featuring an engaging open forum panel discussion that delves into timely and important industrial pretreatment topics. This event brings together control authorities, industrial users, and contract laboratories for an evening of valuable insights, professional connection, and industry driven conversation.

Panelists:
  • Chriso Petropoulou, Ph.D., PE, BCEE, Senior Principal Engineer, Geosyntec Consultants
  • Timothy B. Briscoe, Associate Attorney, Environmental Law, Thompson Coburn, LLP
  • Stephen B. Peterson, Wastewater Compliance Division Manager, Four Rivers Sanitation Authority

Hosted by IWEA and IWWSG's Pretreatment Committees
Members $65 | Nonmembers $80
more info...		2/18/20265:00pm to 8:00pmNichole Schaeffer

IWEA/CSWEA Joint Students and Young Professionals Committees Bowling Networking Event
Thursday, February 26, 2026
4:30 p.m.
Punch Bowl Social (310 N Green St, Chicago, IL 60607) 

Please join the Illinois Water Environment Association (IWEA) and Central States Water Environment Association (CSWEA) Students and Young Professionals Committees for a joint networking event at Punch Bowl Social! We will meet 4:30 p.m. on February 26, 2026. Cost of registration covers bowling lane/shoe rental and appetizers. Socks are required by attendees. Lane rentals start at 5 p.m. Non-members are welcome to attend. 
 
Registation closes on Tuesday, February 24, 2026.

Hosted by IWEA and CSWEA's Students and Young Professionals Committees
Members and Nonmembers: $10
more info...		2/26/20264:30pm to 6:30pmHanting Wang

Elucidating the Impact of Low Dissolved Oxygen on Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal Under Aerobic and Anoxic Conditions at Full Scale
Thursday March 5, 2026
Noon to 1 p.m.
Zoom webinar

In this webinar, Riley Doyle will present her full-scale research on the impact of low dissolved oxygen (DO) on biological phosphorus removal. Her work at Hampton Roads Sanitation District’s (HRSD) Virginia Initiative Plant (VIP) shows that elevated aerobic DO concentrations can rapidly and persistently impair biological phosphorus removal, while sustained low-DO operation improves phosphorus removal performance, promotes polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs), and enables anoxic phosphorus uptake. Notably, improvements in effluent orthophosphate concentrations were observed even after the elimination of chemical phosphorus precipitation, highlighting the strength of the biological response. These findings challenge conventional high-DO design assumptions and identify low-DO operation as a pathway to more stable and energy-efficient nutrient removal.

Key findings presented in this webinar include: 
 
  1. Improved Phosphorus Removal Under Low DO: Sustained low-DO operation resulted in lower and more stable effluent orthophosphate concentrations compared to higher-DO operation.
  2. Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Cycling: Batch testing demonstrated increased phosphorus release and aerobic uptake rates under low-DO conditions, indicating more efficient EBPR metabolism.
  3. Microbial Community Shifts: Reduced DO favored microbial populations associated with PAOs, directly linking operational strategy to improved biological performance.
  4. Anoxic Phosphorus Uptake: Measurable anoxic phosphorus uptake was observed, accounting for up to approximately 40% of aerobic uptake rates in some cases, suggesting opportunities to leverage post-anoxic processes for improved efficiency. This webinar will be particularly valuable for utilities, operators, engineers, and researchers seeking full-scale, data-driven strategies to meet increasingly stringent phosphorus limits while reducing aeration energy demand.
This webinar will be particularly valuable for utilities, operators, engineers, and researchers seeking full-scale, data-driven strategies to meet increasingly stringent phosphorus limits while reducing aeration energy demand.

Speaker: Riley Doyle, EIT PhD Candidate Water Engineering at Université Laval, doctoral research in collaboration with Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD)
Riley Doyle is a PhD candidate in Water Engineering at Université Laval, conducting her doctoral research in collaboration with HRSD. Her PhD work is based on full-scale research at HRSD’s Virginia Initiative Plant. She holds an MS in Environmental Engineering from Virginia Tech and a BS in Environmental Engineering from Bucknell University. Her research focuses on optimizing biological phosphorus removal at full-scale facilities, the role of internally stored carbon in post-anoxic denitrification, and process modeling to evaluate CO₂ volatilization under different alkalinity addition scenarios. Riley is passionate about applying biological understanding to practical challenges in wastewater treatment, water quality, and resource recovery.

more info...		3/5/202612:00pm to 1:00pmArun Mande

See Illinois Association of Wastewater Agencies :: Home (ilwastewater.org) for more information. 
more info...		3/10/2026
-3/12/2026		8:00am to 5:00pm

Sustainability Committee Webinar: MWRD Space to Grow Program - Greening Chicago Schoolyards
Thursday, March 12, 2026
Noon to 12:30 p.m.
Zoom Webinar

Since 2014, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) has partnered with Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the Chicago Department of Water Management (CDWM), Healthy Schools Campaign (HSC) and Openlands to transform CPS schoolyards into dynamic places to learn and play, while also educating them on the importance of green infrastructure to manage stormwater. This program, known as Space to Grow, gives students and their neighbors living in low-income communities improved outdoor spaces to play. These permeable surface areas are equipped with new playgrounds, turf fields, rain gardens and other features designed to collect more rainfall and keep it out of the sewers. The permeable surfaces will reduce flooding, reduce the load on the combined sewer system, and encourage the use of green infrastructure techniques that soak up more stormwater by using natural solutions.
 
Speaker: Ky Ochsner, MWRD, Assistant Civil Engineer

Hosted by IWEA's Sustainability Committee
Members $20 | Nonmembers $30
.5 PDH/TCH

Zoom webinar link will be forwarded by separate email the morning of March 12.
more info...		3/12/202612:00pm to 12:30pmFay Costa

The Illinois Wastewater Professionals Conference is the largest annual wastewater and water reuse conference in Illinois. The program focuses on all aspects of water, except drinking. 
more info...		3/30/2026
-4/2/2026		9:00am to 5:00pmAnn Davidson

more info...		4/5/2026 

Water Week 2026 and the National Water Policy Fly-in
April 14 - 15, 2026
Washington, DC

Mark your calendars for Water Week 2026 and the National Water Policy Fly-in in Washington. All registrants will receive an invitation to the Fly-In Prep Webcast on April 1, 2026.

Each year Water Week invites water professionals from across the nation to help advance key water policy priorities such as sustained growth in federal infrastructure investment, addressing water affordability, supporting water research & development and advancing sound science-based solutions, and making our critical infrastructure more resilient.

This premier event brings together water professionals, utility leaders, and advocates from across the nation for a week of impactful engagement and collaboration.

Learn more and register: https://www.wef.org/waterweek

Shared by IWEA's Government Affairs Committee
Cost: $150
more info...		4/14/2026
-4/15/2026		7:00am to 7:00pm

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