WEFTEC 2002, the Water Environment Federation's (WEF) 75th annual technical and educational conference, attracted a record-breaking attendance of 18,704 during last week's event. Held September 28-October 2 in Chicago, IL, WEFTEC 2002 broke several attendance records, featured 793 exhibitors, covered 201,540 square feet of floor space, and received recognition as the most successful show at McCormick Place this year.

WEFTEC 2002's extensive technical program, sprawling exhibition, and special events offered water professionals the latest in water quality research, technology, and services. Designed to cover of a wide spectrum of today's critical water quality issues, a total of seventy technical sessions and 25 conference workshops brought innovative information about topics such as infrastructure security, utility management, watershed management, and biosolids/residuals management. Workshop attendance increased to over 1,200 attendees, exceeding 800 from the previous year.

Networking and professional development opportunities for water professionals, students, and young professionals were also available at WEFTEC 2002. Conference exhibitors wishing to conduct business internationally had the opportunity to meet with buyers and market experts from Asia and Eastern Europe through the assistance of the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership Exchange Program For Sustainable Growth (US-AEP) and Eurasia's American Partnership For Environmentally Sustainable Economies (ECOLINKS).

Following the success of WEFTEC 2002, preparations are already underway for WEFTEC 2003 in Los Angeles, California. Scheduled for October 11-15, 2003, WEFTEC 2003 promises to be as successful as this year's event.


About WEFTEC
Founded in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with members from varied disciplines who work toward the WEF vision of preservation and enhancement of the global water environment. The WEF network includes more than 100,000 water quality professionals from 79 Member Associations in 32 countries.