Reflections on almost 30 years in the water sector

Over the last 10-12 years, the change in perception from waste treatment to resource recovery has brought about a revolution for the profession. Resource recovery was not completely absent early in the 1990s. In the United States (US) in 1991 Orange County Water Department in California received a permit to put highly treated effluent from Water Factory 21 into its ground-water recharge basins. I...

Water professionals are increasingly demonstrating how all kinds of water – stormwater, wastewater, and seawater – have value, and that a broader view is necessary for management of this vital and often scarce resource. This change in perspective has helped the sector show wastewater and stormwater are resources rather than wastes to be managed or disposed of. It is exciting to see how...

Many WEF members live and work in North America and thirty years ago that is where most were focused. Some US members even questioned the value of WEF’s investment in international engagement. Fast forward to now, and this has become a profession with few mental “borders.” We are not just open to, but actively looking for the best ideas wherever they were envisioned. In addition...

Water professionals have shown themselves to be an innovative bunch that have tackled many tough problems – we just need to take a stroll by the river in any of our major towns and cities in Europe or North America to recognize this. Many of today’s problems are even more complex – think: pharmaceuticals and personal care products or the chemical in the per-and poly-fluoroalkyl...

Engineers are problem solvers with a service mindset; give them a problem and they will try to solve it. When I joined WEF, members worked on youth education and provided educational materials to the public about utility services but the collective mantra appeared to be: We’ll work hard, do our jobs, and not expect much public interest. Over the past decade, however, our philosophy has...

It’s inspiring to see water and wastewater utilities embrace an expanded understanding of their role in their communities. Once named a Sanitation Agency or Pollution Control Plant, these entities often viewed being “out of sight and out of mind” as success benchmarks. In contrast, utilities now understand their role not only as an essential public service but as a community...

As I reflected on the sector’s amazing successes and thought about the interesting times ahead, my overwhelming conclusion is that it has been and will continue to be all about the people. Case studies of the energy-positive Strass plant or the innovative Orange County Groundwater Replenishment scheme both cite investment in highly skilled staff as a key component of success. Continued...

Eileen J. O’Neill, PhD, BCES, worked as an academic and environmental consultant in the US and Europe before joining WEF in 1991 as chief technical officer. In 2011, she became deputy executive director, then was named executive director of WEF in 2014. She now serves on several boards and is a founding partner with Water Principles LLC.