Day Two

October 26, 2018
Print Agenda

7:00-8:15

Breakfast

8:15-9:30

CEOs Panel

A new kind of thought leadership is emerging as the North American water industry adapts to rising interest rates, rising raw materials prices, and rising client sophistication. Our panel of senior executives are helping to shape the future by driving change to address the needs of a rising population, unpredictable weather patterns, and an increasingly data-driven economy.

Chair

Andrew D. Seidel, UGSI Solutions, Inc.

Speakers

Allan Connolly, Aclara

Eric Gernath, Suez North America

Cindy Wallis-Lage, Black & Veatch

Bob Pragada, Jacobs

Scott Hall, Mueller Water Products

Patrick Decker, Xylem

9:30-10:00

One-2-One Networking & Coffee Break

The One-2-One Networking Sessions are designed to secure valuable face time with any registered delegate.

One-2-One Networking provides an intimate setting for you to shake hands and strike pivotal deals.

10:00-11:30

What Do Investors Want From Water?

Ultimately, we are all in the business of creating value, but there is plenty of debate as to what comprises value in the water sector from an investment perspective. In this session, we invite major water investors to describe what they look for when investing in water companies and what constitutes value in the long term.

Chair

Deane Dray, RBC Capital Markets

Speakers

Alina Donets, Allianz Global Investors

Matt Sheldon, KBI Global Investors

Janet Glazer, Fidelity Investments

Bill Malarkey, Amane Advisors

What Does a Great Water Future Look Like?

The future of the water industry depends on the aspirational visions of next generation utility leaders. This session gives you the opportunity to be at the forefront of industry development as these next generation utility leaders, who were matched with a utility mentor prior to the event, present their vision of a water utility in the year 2040.

Chair

Howard Neukrug, Global Water Leaders Group

Mentors

Roger Bailey, Central Contra Costa Sanitary District

Patrick Cairo, PCairo Management Consulting LLC

Kishia Powell, City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management

Adel Hagekhalil, City of Los Angeles

Carla Reid, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission

Next Generation Leaders

Dana Gonzalez, Hampton Roads Sanitation District

Raul Gonzalez, Hampton Roads Sanitation District

Tera Fong, DC Water

Aisha Niang, Houston Water

Serge Haddad, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

Stephanie Chiorean, Philadelphia Water Department

Abby Sullivan, Philadelphia Water Department

Adaptive Infrastructure: Paths to Preparedness

Water utilities are facing operational threats like never before. From historic flooding and droughts to targeted cyber attacks, cities are beginning to rethink their physical and digital infrastructure to prepare for new extremes. Discover how private companies and utilities can collaborate to adopt innovative stormwater management approaches, water reuse and desalination projects, and front line cybersecurity initiatives.

Chair

Jill Hudkins, Tetra Tech

Speakers

Matthew Ries, DC Water

Marc Cammarata, Philadelphia Water Department

Jim Lochhead, Denver Water

Alan Cohn, New York City Department of Environmental Protection

Erica Brown, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies

Richard Harasick, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

11:30-11:45

Transition Break

11:45-1:00

Totex Thinking

Perhaps the biggest opportunity for squeezing further efficiencies out of the American water sector is in optimizing procurement between capex and opex. In the UK they call it Totex thinking: the idea that taking separate accounts of profit & loss spending and balance sheet investment ultimately adds to the customer’s bill. Instead the focus is on managing risks right down the supply chain to minimize the overall cost to the customer. How can American utilities further optimize their spending to keep rates down?

Chair

Ian Elkins, GWI

Speakers

Pete Perciavalle, Stantec

Katherine Oven, Santa Clara Valley Water District

Brian Cullen, VICO

Jason Tucker, Anglian Water Services

Luis Casado, Gannett Fleming

William Cheaks, Chicago Department of Water Management

The New Economics of the Regulatory Frontier

Despite retreats in some areas of industrial environmental regulation, the EPA has been active in addressing concerns about emerging contaminants such as PFAS (per- and polyfluoralkyl substances). These bring with them a new technological and financial challenge: how can they be eliminated without an exponential increase in treatment costs? Water Desalination Report Editor Tom Pankratz has brought together some of the key combatants on this regulatory frontier to discuss what is needed in technology terms to sustain these advances in customer protection.

Chair

Tom Pankratz, Water Desalination Report

Speakers

YuJung Chang, AECOM

Dr. Dora Chiang, CDM Smith

Catherine Swanson, Evoqua Water Technologies

Nora Stockhausen, Calgon Carbon

Michael Pickel, Horsham Water and Sewer Authority

Uninvented Technologies

The needs of municipal end-users and the solutions provided by their private sector counterparts are still far from being reconciled. Chaired by Booky Oren, this session gathers a group of innovative utility leaders to discuss how technological solutions may be developed to meet their long-standing operational and capital challenges.

Chair

Booky Oren, Booky Oren Global Water Technologies

Speakers

Erin Mahoney, The Regional Municipality of York

Deven Upadhyay, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

Reese Johnson, Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati

Donovan Burton, San Antonio Water System

1:00-2:00

Lunch

1:30-2:00

One-2-One Networking & Coffee Break

The One-2-One Networking Sessions are designed to secure valuable face time with any registered delegate.

One-2-One Networking provides an intimate setting for you to shake hands and strike pivotal deals.

2:00-3:00

Closing Panel

The Summit zooms out for an international perspective of the global water market. GWI’s Publisher, Christopher Gasson, hosts a panel of industrial and municipal water sector experts with a discussion of what the North American water sector must learn from the rest of the world.

Chair

Christopher Gasson, GWI

Speakers

Sue Murphy, Water Corporation, Australia

John Gibson, Veolia North America

Heiner Markhoff, Suez Water Technologies & Solutions

Thierry Noel, Amane Advisors