Another year, another AWWA Expo. Get the highlights of ACE14

The hustle and bustle of ACE14 is over. Read about the highlights, find out who won national titles and more.
Another year, another AWWA Expo. Get the highlights of ACE14
This year's pipe-tapping competition included 39 teams. Here, the Evansville, Ill., team takes the stage.

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The hustle and bustle of the American Water Works Association ACE14 conference in Boston has come to an end. After several days of roundtables, educational sessions, idea sharing, pipe-tapping competitions and product showcases, the booths have been packed up and the attendees have parted ways. This historical city — home of Paul Revere, the Old North Church and the beginnings of the Revolutionary War — was a fantastic host for the water industry.

For those of you who attended, I hope you are going back to your jobs inspired by what you saw and heard. For those of you didn’t attend, here’s a quick look at some of the highlights:

  • It was standing room only at the opening session on Monday morning as Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani addressed attendees. His message to the industry? Be courageous when it comes to infrastructure replacement. “Sometimes, it’s a message they don’t want to hear because it’s a message that says you’re going to have to spend money” he says of communicating spending needs to the public.
  • Boston Water and Sewer won the best-tasting water competition. For the first time ever, the host city took the “Best of the Best” Water Taste Test. (And trust me, when the home team wins, you can expect a lot of cheering. The audience was pretty excited about the announcement). Taking second-place honors was Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, another Boston water utility. Third place went to the City of Kalama, Wash., which also received the People’s Choice Award.
  • Over the course of three days, 39 teams, including 10 women’s teams and 29 men’s teams, competed in the national pipe-tapping competition. When all was said and done, those teams made 96 taps and kept the audience cheering throughout. Those numbers mark the best participation ever at the annual AWWA event. And who took home the trophy? For the men, Mexico will welcome back winners from the San Miguel team, with a winning time very close to the one-minute mark. And for the women, the Lansing, Mich., team took home high honors.
  • The show floor was buzzing throughout the convention. Here at WSO magazine, we had the chance to talk to many of you about your careers, your systems and plants and more. If you didn’t have the chance to chat with us, we’d still love to hear about your city, your municipality and your jobs. Drop us a note. We’re always looking for good stories and great profiles, and we’re more than happy to hear from the men and women who read our magazines.

Want more photos? Visit our Facebook page to see a photo album from the show. With all of those colorful team uniforms at the tapping competition, it was easy to find some interesting photo opportunities.

Next year’s conference, which will be held in Anaheim, Calif., is already in the planning stages. For more information, visit the AWWA website.



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