Dave Carlson
June 2011

By the time you receive the June issue of “The Clarifier”, summer will be here with hopefully warmer days. This certainly has been a wet and cool spring so far. There are many summer activities we plan for in Fond du Lac such as taking tanks out of service for inspection and routine maintenance. Lots of rain means high flows for most of us making tank inspections difficult and sometimes impossible. I hope for a drier summer.

In June or early July you will be receiving your registration packets for the 45th Annual WWOA Conference to be held October 4th -7 th in La Crosse at the La Crosse Convention Center. I would like to formerly invite all of you to attend this year. Wade Peterson, the Technical Program Committee Chair along with the Technical Program Committee have put together another great conference. The keynote address will be given by Scott Friedman, a humorous motivational speaker. You can go online at www.funnyscott.com and view his talents. The Technical Program will have 35 presentations with a focus on nutrient removal. Two pre-conference workshops will be held on Tuesday again focusing on Phosphorus Laboratory Testing, and Real Time Process Monitoring set up at the La Crosse WWTP. Tours will be given at the Holmen WWTP, a NOAA Weather Station, and Davy’s Laboratory. Sporting Clays will be at Woods and Meadows in Warren, WI and golf will be at the Forest Hills Golf Club in La Crosse. This year’s entertainment after the banquet, will be a La Crosse area band, “Highway 16” and a dance. On Friday our Farewell Breakfast speaker will be WDNR Secretary Stepp. The La Crosse Conference Center has informed us that a new parking ramp will be in place at the time of our conference to help alleviate parking issues.

Unfortunately, the Operators Competition Event will not be held this year. The Regions were not able to provide three teams which are required to make the event happen. The Operators Competition Committee will be considering new and interesting ideas and hopefully bring the event back for our 2012 conference.

The banquet and annual awards ceremony is another big part of our conference. Randy Thater is our Awards Committee Chair and is accepting nominations for the various awards the WWOA offers. Please consider nominating a deserving wastewater professional this year. Explanation of the awards and nomination forms will be in this issue of the Clarifier and on our website, www.wwoa.org.

Scholarships are also available and application can be made by contacting Dennis Egge, Scholarship Committee Chair. Information on scholarships will also be in this issue of the Clarifier.

That’s about it for now. Have a great summer…

Until next time, all the best to you…

Dave Carlson
WWOA President