For the third year in a row, the International Society of Automation (ISA) – through its Water and Wastewater Industries Division (WWID) – is supporting an initiative designed to demonstrate the value of intelligent water systems, smart water technologies, and leveraging data for improved decision-making.
The 2020 LIFT Intelligent Water Systems Challenge is a competition that encourages students, professionals, and technology enthusiasts to develop innovative solutions, particularly those using advanced sensing and/or data technology, which can be applied to water and wastewater collection, treatment, and distribution.
The Challenge is a joint effort of The Water Research Foundation (WRF) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF). Serving as supporting organizations are: ISA, the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the Cleveland Water Alliance, the Water Council, the WaterTap Technology Acceleration Project, and the Smart Water Networks Forum (SWAN).
“We’re pleased to again welcome ISA, a technical association that works to advance the use of automation and technology in the water and wastewater treatment industry, as a supporting organization of the LIFT Intelligent Water Systems Challenge,” states Lisa McFadden, Director of Integrated Technical Programs and the Associate Director of the Water Science & Engineering Center at WEF. “Last year’s Challenge prompted a lot of interest and ideas around intelligent water systems and we’re expecting great things this year as well.”
The Challenge kicked off in January 2020 and will run until September 2020. Teams will have until March 20, 2020 to register their teams, and will then work towards submitting Challenge Solution by August 10. Judges will award a top prize of $10,000. Recognition will also be given to innovative approaches and to outstanding contributions from students or young professionals. More information about the challenge, its sponsors, and how entries will be evaluated can be found on the competition website at: www.waterrf.org/news/2020-intelligent-water-systems-challenge
“ISA’s Water and Wastewater Industries Division is pleased to be a regular supporter of the 2020 LIFT Intelligent Water Systems Challenge, as it is a flagship program that brings out the best of what people and automation technology can do in the municipal water/wastewater sector,” emphasizes Graham Nasby, a long-time leader within ISA’s WWID and a widely recognized expert within the water/wastewater community. “ISA is committed to helping professionals in the water and wastewater industries improve safety, efficiency, and operational performance through automated controls, instrumentation, and other advanced technologies.”
Nasby says that for well over a decade ISA’s WWID has collaborated with WEF and other professional associations to conduct an annual symposium to showcase the value of automatic control applications, sensors and instrumentation, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), and engineering best practices to the treatment and distribution of water, and the collection and treatment of wastewater.
In 2020, ISA as part of its goals to serve the needs of municipal water/wastewater community, will be again involved in the ISA’s 2020 Energy and Water Automation Conference, which will be held August 5-6, 2020 in 2019 in San Antonio, Texas, USA. The conference combines ISA’s popular power and municipal water programs into a single, two-day gathering with additional content on industrial water applications. Topics of emphasis include data analytics, IIOT, Smart Cities Initiative, and cybersecurity.
“ISA has a strong history of supporting the needs of automation professionals in a wide variety of industries, including the municipal water/wastewater sector,” Nasby says. “With its ISA Energy and Water Automation Conference, ISA stays true to its vision of creating a better world through automation, by encouraging the sharing of information and ideas between the electric power and water/wastewater sectors. I encourage you to find out more about this event as details are released in the coming months.”
For more information on this compelling new event, visit the conference website. More details as well as online registration will be available soon.
More Information:
2020 LIFT Intelligent Water Systems Challenge
www.waterrf.org/news/2020-intelligent-water-systems-challenge
About WRF
The Water Research Foundation is a US-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization that was officially formed in January 2018 after the merger of the Water Environment & Reuse Foundation and Water Research Foundation. The merged Foundation is the leading water research organization, funding research, pilot projects, and technology demonstrations that maximize the value of all water, including wastewater, stormwater, drinking water, and recycled water. Learn more at www.werf.org or www.waterrf.org.
About WEF
The Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization of 35,000 individual members and 75 affiliated Member Associations representing water quality professionals around the world. Since 1928, WEF and its members have protected public health and the environment. As a global water sector leader, our mission is to connect water professionals; enrich the expertise of water professionals; increase the awareness of the impact and value of water; and provide a platform for water sector innovation. To learn more, visit www.wef.org.
About the ISA Water/Wastewater Division
The ISA Water / Wastewater Industry Division (WWID) is concerned with all aspects of instrumentation and automated-control related to commercial and public systems associated with water and wastewater management. Membership in the WWID provides the latest news and information relating to instrumentation and control systems in water and wastewater management, including water processing and distribution, as well as wastewater collection and treatment. The division actively supports ISA conferences and events that provide presentations and published proceedings of interest to the municipal water/wastewater sector. The division also publishes a quarterly newsletter, and has a scholarship program to encourage young people to pursue careers in the water/wastewater automation, instrumentation and SCADA field. For more information see www.isa.org/wwid/ or www.isawaterwastewater.com