Closing the water cycle through efficient and innovative technologies
Abstract submissions for poster presentations are open until 3 June 2024!
Participating at LET 2024 gives you an opportunity to present your work to a global audience and the opportunity of publication in a leading international peer-reviewed journal. The final submission deadline for outline papers for poster presentations is 3 June 2024. To submit a poster abstract please click the button above. For more details on submitting a poster, please see below.
LET 2024 programme details
Details subject to change
Workshop day
Details coming soon.
Welcome Addresses
The Tuesday programme will commence at 9:00 am with a welcome address.
Plenary Keynote Session
The plenary session will feature multiple inspiring keynotes from leading voices and thought leaders. All the keynote speakers are the top specialists and most prominent figures within the water sector and beyond.
Norbert Jardin, Ruhrverband, Germany – Innovation and Resource Recovery
Ratul Das, ACWA Power, Saudi Arabia – Low energy desalination
Liu Ye, University of Queensland, Australia – Greenhouse gas emissions and net-zero targets
Jorg Drewes, Technical University of Munich, Germany – Integrated alternative source management to address water scarcity
Jeffrey Lewis, Sweden – PFAS and other forever chemicals: Toxicology from a global perspective.
For more information, please see the LET 2024 Plenary Keynote Speakers (see below)
Conference Technical Sessions
Drinking Water Track
See below for Wastewater Track details
Technical Session 1: Developments in Digitalization
Session Chairs: Enrique Rochera, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain & Burkard Teichgräber, Germany
Invited Speaker: Jaume Alba, Spain: Digital Software platforms
Nawik Manatsawee, Thailand: The Application Of Machine Learning In The Systemic Decision Process Development For Water Supply Pipe Replacement Performance In Thailand
Ge Jingyu, Australia: Data-Enabled Estimation Method Using Simple Digital Monitoring Sensors: Analysis Sewer Inflow And Infiltration
Discussions
Morning Break (30 mins)
Invited Speaker: Althoff Heiko: Successful digitalization approaches for system operators
Gómez-Martínez Patricia, Spain: Innovative Tools To Control Organic Matter And Disinfection Byproducts “HE IntoDBP”. The Case Study Of Madrid
Heinsbroek Abel, Netherlands: A Parametric Framework For Designing And Modelling Drinking Water Treatment Plants
Discussions
Poster Pitches:
Nurhayati Ervin, Indonesia: Coagulation Process Improvement Of Surabaya City Water Treatment Plants: Dose Optimization And Dosing Pump Automation
Uhl Wolfgang, Norway: Resource-efficient Digital Optimization Of Dual Media Filtration In Drinking Water Treatment
Isma Lebbe & Mohamed Sabri, Sri Lanka: Water Horizons: An Comprehensive Review Of Smart Water Systems For Global Sustainability
Lunch (60 mins)
Technical Session 3: Membranes, hybrid systems and new materials
Session Chairs: Eric Hoek, UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, USA & Jonathan Clement, Ramboll, Netherlands
Invited Speaker: Eric Hoek, USA: Development of membrane based brine concentration, crystallization, and valorization
Duc Viet Nguyen, South Korea: Super-hydrophilic And Positive Charged Forward Osmosis Membrane For Efficient Ammonia Recovery And Robust Energy Production
Teik Thye Lim, Singapore: Synergistic Oxidation-Filtration In Catalytic Membrane For Intensified Micropollutant Degradation With Persulfate
Discussions
Afternoon Break (30 mins)
Invited Speaker: Gilbert Galjaard, Netherlands: Understanding the emerging role of flat sheet membranes
Olga Ferrer, Spain: Assessment Of Submerged Ultrafiltration Ceramic Membranes As SWRO Pre-treatment Under Challenging Conditions
Alexander Mitranescu, Germany: Harnessing Hydrodynamic Effects Of Assemblies Of Surface-patterned Membranes And Feed Spacers To Reduce RO And NF Membrane Fouling: A Numerical Investigation
Discussions
Poster Pitches:
Gabriela Scheibel Cassol, Hong Kong: Membrane Optimization And Waste Heat Recovery For Highly Efficient Green Hydrogen Generation From Seawater Via Integrated Alkaline Electrolysis
Thomas Pluym, Belgium: Flow Cytometry For Online Microbial Regrowth Monitoring In A Membrane Filtration Plant: Pilot-scale Case Study For Wastewater Reuse
Yue Wang, Belgium: CNTs-based Membrane For Enhancing Flux In Membrane Distillation
Wastewater Track
Technical Session 2: Carbon and energy neutrality and greenhouse gas emissions
Session chairs: Amanda Lake Jacobs, USA & Zhiguo Yuan, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Invited Speaker: Prof Eberhard Morgenroth, Switzerland: Off-gas monitoring – key towards net-zero in wastewater treatment plants
Oriol Carbó Monmany, Spain: Stable and controlled mainstream HRAS, partial nitritation AGS and anammox for a suitable effluent quality
Kati Blomberg, Finland: Demonstrating N2O Mitigation In Two Advanced Full-scale WWTPs
Discussions
Morning Break (30 mins)
Invited Speaker: Prof Apri Gu, USA: Pathways Towards Decarbonation and A Net-zero-carbon Water Sector
Konrad Kochi, Germany: Ex-situ Biomethanation As An Energy Buffer At WWTPs: Experiences From 450 Days Of Operation At Pilot-scale
Ooms Kristoffer, Germany: Enhanced Sector Coupling Of Wastewater, Energy And Transportation Through Power-to-Methanol – A Case Study For The WWTP Bottrop
Discussions
Poster Pitches:
Michelle Young , USA: Making The Change To Low DO: Practical Guidance For Suboxic (Low DO) Biological Nutrient Removal Based On Full-Scale Operations
Paul Kelterer, Austria: A One-stage Biological Scrubber As Key Technology In A Novel comprehensive Concept To Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions In wastewater Treatment Plants
Maria Piculell, Sweden: High Biomethane Potential In Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor Sludge – The Route To Energy Neutrality
Lunch Break (60 mins)
Technical Session 4: Resource Recovery and Sludge Treatment
Session Chairs: Ana Soares, Cranfield University, UK & Konrad Koch, Germany
Invited Speaker: Frank Rogalla, Spain: AnMBR-Based Resource Recovery In Urban Sanitation: Integrating Food Waste Into The Wastewater Stream
Francis Meerburg, Belgium: Creating A Positive Business Case Around Nitrogen Recovery From Digested Sludge Centrate
Zhen He, USA: Electrochemical Phosphorus Recovery From Sewage Sludge With Dewaterability Improvement
Discussions
Afternoon Break (30 mins)
Invited Speaker: Regina Gnirss, Germany: Wastewater Heat Recovery In Berlin- Large Scale Implementations And Strategic Approach To Exploit Potential
Phillip Wilfert, Netherlands: Recovery Of Valuable Biopolymers From Sewage Sludge- An European Case Study
Ester Rus Perez, Norway: WAS Only THP- Hengelo WWTP Case Study
Discussions
Poster Pitches:
Vincenzo Pelagalli, Italy: Mordenite And HZSM-5 Zeolites Employment In The Catalytic Pyrolysis Of Municipal Sewage Sludge Towards The In-situ H2S Removal From Syngas
Alicia González-Míguez, Spain: Smart Bio-based Biofertilisers Production From Wastewater-recovered Nitrogen
Amr Abdelrahman, Canada: Experimental Study And Model-Based Analysis Of IntensiCarbTM Intensification Technology: Achieving High Organic Loading With Simultaneous Ammonia Recovery
UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, USA
Conference Technical Sessions
Drinking Water Track
See below for Wastewater Track details
Technical Session 5: Advancements in Desalination
Session Chairs: Tzahi Cath, USA & Paul Buijs, 1st:water, UAE
Invited Speaker: Olga Ferrer, Spain: LIFE INDESAL: Improving Sustainability Of Seawater Desalination With An Integrated Process For Water, Energy, And Resource Production
Mike Boyd, USA: Advanced and Minimum Liquid Discharge (MLD) Reverse Osmosis Technologies
Asif Sha, India: Thermodynamic Modelling And Performance Investigations Of A Single Bed Solar Adsorption Desalination System
Discussions
Morning Break (30 mins)
Invited Speaker: Paul Buijs, Netherlands: The Roadmap to Desalination Cost Reduction
Maharshi Patel, Germany: Does Combination Of Surface-Patterned Thin-Film Composite Membrane And Feed Spacer Improve Anti-Scaling Propensity?
Alla Alpatova, Saudi Arabia/Ukraine: Effective Utilization of CO2 Gas in Membrane Filtration
Discussions
Poster Pitches:
Bokjin Lee, South Korea: Evaluation Of TDS Removal Performance Of Pilot-Scale Membrane Capacitive Deionization System
Changseog Oh, South Korea: Study On TDS Removal Using Pilot-scale Membrane Capacitive Deionization(MCDI) With Circulation Process
Schwiebert Alexander: Early Detection of Membrane Scaling Using Concentrate Turbidity Measurement
Lunch (60 mins)
Technical Session 7: Micro-Contaminant Monitoring and Removal
Session Chairs: Marta Carballa, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain & Jörg Drewes, Technical University of Munich, Germany
Invited Speaker: Vera Kohlgrueber, Germany: Implementation Of Targeted Micropollutant Removal On Municipal WWTPs In Baden-WRttemberg – A Look Back At Years Of Success And A Promising Outlook For The Future
Christa Morgenschweis, Netherlands: Combined Removal Of Micropollutants And Nutrients From Municipal Wastewater In The Netherlands
Johan Lundqvist, Sweden: Effect-based Analyses — A Novel Strategy To Assess Removal Of Micro-contaminants By Water Treatment
Discussions
Afternoon Break (30 mins)
Invited Speaker: Sema Karakurt-Fischer, Switzerland: Elucidating and Fostering the role of Biotransformation in the Abatement of Micropollutants
Alexander Sperlich, Germany: Removing Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) From Groundwater With High Concentrations Of Natural Organic Matter
Nicolaj Schmidt Damgaard, Denmark: Utilizing Treatment Trains To Treat Complex Pollution In Groundwater Caused By Generational Pollution
Discussions
Poster Pitches:
Philipp Sperle, Germany: Photolytic Ozonation As Promising Alternative AOP Using UV-LEDs
Anna Segues Codina, Spain: Manganese Oxide Functionalised Graphene Sponges For The Electrochemical Water Treatment And Disinfection
Jiwon Kong, South Korea: Assessing The Efficacy Of Permeable Pavement Systems In Mitigating Leakage Of Microplastic By Rainwater
Wastewater Track
Technical Session 6: Innovative processes
Session chairs: Mark van Loosdrecht, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands & Michelle Young, USA
Invited Speaker: Christoph Donner, Germany
Elin Ossiansson, Sweden: Enhanced Biological Removal Of Nitrogen And Phosphorus In A Continuous Biofilm Process With Bio-based Carriers
Patricia Zamora, Spain: Demonstrative 100% Solar-powered Anaerobic Photobiorefinery Based On Purple Phototrophic Bacteria
Discussions
Morning Break (30 mins)
Invited Speaker: Arne Wieland, Germany: 15 Years Of Ozonation For Micropollutants Removal In Europe- A Review
Elisabeth Vaudevire, Netherlands: Nitrogen Removal from Wastewater Effluents With Cation Exchange Resin In Suspension
Grit Hoffmann, Germany: Optimisation And Monitoring Of Hybrid Coagulation-PAC-UF Processes For The Elimination Of Micropollutants In Advanced Wastewater Treatment
Discussions
Poster Pitches:
Henkel Jochen, Germany: Alpha-Factors In Activated Sludge And Aerobic Granular Sludge Systems – Dispelling The Myth
Martin Linares, USA: Effect Of Hydrocyclones On The Morphology And Microbial Community Structure Of Activated Sludge Flocs: Results From Full-scale
Laurent De Franceschi, Switzerland: A Winner For The Treatment Of Micropollutants At Quaternary Stage In Wastewater: The Combination Of Ozone And Granular Activated Carbon
Lunch (60 mins)
Technical Session 8: Closing the Water Cycle
Session Chairs: Lisa Bross, Germany & Despo Fatta-Kassinos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus.
Invited Speaker: Krishna R Pagilla, USA
Jonas Aniol, Germany: Employing Rapid Infiltration Trench Technology To Establish Stable Redox Conditions In A Heterogenous Aquifer For Drinking Water Production
Javad Ahmadi, Germany: Ensuring Proper Removal Of Viruses And Mobile Genetic Elements During Water Reclamation Employing Ceramic Ultrafiltration Combined With Pre-ozonation And Coagulation
Discussions
Afternoon Break (30 mins)
Invited Speaker: Thomas Wintgnes, Germany: Closing Loops in the Water Cycle – Advances in Treatment and Recovery Technologies
Stefan Stauder, Germany: Assessment Of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) To Increase Groundwater Availability In Lima – Peru
Regina Gnirss. Germany: Semi-closed Urban Water Cycle In Berlin – Treatment Options To Remove Organic Micropollutants
Discussions
Poster Pitches:
Michael Stapf, Germany: Ozonation And UV Disinfection: Utilizing Synergies Between Micropollutant Removal And Water Reuse
Jonas Hunsicker, Germany: Practical Experience With Online E. Coli Measurement To Derive Training Data Set For Microbial Water Quality Model
Eva Reynaert, Switzerland: Combining Online Sensors With Process Understanding For Safe On-site Water Reuse
On 28 June the Technical Tours will take place.
Plenary Keynote Speakers
The LET 2024 speaker line-up will include plenary contributions by world-class professionals working on cutting-edge water and wastewater solutions. More details will be available soon. Meet the confirmed speakers below!
Norbert Jardin graduated from Darmstadt University of Technology and received a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering. Since 2007 he holds an honorary professorship and teaches wastewater engineering. After heading the planning department at Ruhrverband for nearly 20 years he was appointed as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in 2016 and 2019 as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ruhrverband. Since 1990, Norbert Jardin has published more than 120 articles in national and international journals and has given more than 150 oral presentations at national and international conferences. He is the recipient of the Karl-Imhoff-Award of the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) and the Eddy Medal from the Water Environment Federation (USA). Norbert served for eight years as a member and chair of the Programme Committee of the International Water Association (IWA). He also served as a director on the IWA Board of Directors and actually as Chair of the IWA Specialist Group on Design, Operation and Costs of Large Wastewater Treatment Plants.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Norbert Jardin, Chief Executive Officer of Ruhrverband, Essen, Germany
Prof Liu Ye is the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) research programme leader at The University of Queensland, Australia. Her research activities focus on finding innovative and practical solutions to tackle challenges in achieving net-zero emissions, climate resilience, and sustainability in the urban water sector. She has established national and international leadership in the research field of GHG emissions from urban wastewater systems and has been active in this area for over 15 years. Prof. Ye has led many government- and industry-funded research projects and has over 150 publications in this area. She is also the lead editor of the recently published IWA book “Quantification and Modelling of Fugitive Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Urban Water Systems.” The research outputs from her group not only advance the understanding of fundamental GHG production but are also adopted by water utilities to quantify and reduce GHG emissions in full-scale treatment plants. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and an elected member of the Strategic Council of the International Water Association (IWA) since 2022.
Professor Liu Ye, University of Queensland, Australia
Dr. Ratul Das is the Senior Manager for Innovation and New Technology and Head of Desalination R&D for ACWA Power. He graduated with a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and was a former Postdoctoral fellow at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. His work focusses on the development and execution of Desalination R&D Roadmap, which includes technology assessment, testing of newer technologies, optimization of desalination processes and development of simulation tools and performance models using process modelling, data engineering and artificial intelligence to deliver direct bottom-line impact and maintain a competitive edge. Ratul has authored more than 20 articles in reputable journals, filed several patents and has given oral presentations at national and international conferences.
Dr. Ratul Das, ACWA Power, Saudi Arabia
Jörg E. Drewes is Chair Professor of Urban Water Systems Engineering at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany. Before joining TUM in 2013, he served as Full Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), USA (2001-2013) and Director of Research for the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center on Reinventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt). His research and scholarly activities are closely related to the common theme of energy efficient advanced water treatment systems and water recycling. In particular, he is interested in novel design approaches for natural and engineered treatment systems; distributed non-potable water reuse; potable water reuse; monitoring strategies and treatment performance assessments to assure public health; and state-of-the-art analysis of emerging trace organic chemicals and pathogens in natural and engineered systems. Prof. Drewes has led many research projects on those subjects in the USA, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and published more than 300 peer-reviewed journal papers and book contributions. Professor Drewes is a member of the Advisory Council on Global Change directly advising the German Government (WBGU) since 2020. He is a Fellow of IWA, a member of the IWA Strategic Council of IWA, and past-Chair of IWA’s Water Reuse Specialist Group.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg E. Drewes, Technical University of Munich, Germany
Jeffrey Lewis is the General Manager for ECT2 in Europe. Jeff is originally from Canada but relocated to Europe after completing his PhD at the University of Quebec. He is a chemical engineer by training and has been working with PFAS for most of his career, first in the context of groundwater characterization and currently in the context of treatment and remediation. Jeff has been involved in a range of projects dealing with everything from groundwater to drinking water to industrial process water to landfill leachate to wastewater. Jeff lives in Umeå, Sweden with his wife and two daughters. In his spare time, he enjoys cross country skiing and making ice cider.
Jeffrey Lewis, ECT2, Sweden
Poster presentations – abstract submission deadline 3 June
Abstract Information
The conference technical programme will consist of platform presentations, poster presentations, workshops and panel discussions. All outline papers selected for presentation will be included in the online preprint – which will be accessible to all conference delegates. Full papers from a selection of presentations will also be considered for publication in one of the IWA Publishing journals. Selected posters will be on display for the duration of the conference. Outline papers are now invited for poster presentations on the indicated topics and should be submitted via the submission portal.
Outline papers are now being accepted only for poster presentations and shall be limited to two A4 pages (excluding figures and tables – with an additional 2 x A4 pages for diagrams, tables, and figures, four pages in total). The outline paper has to contain adequate information to allow for a sound review. To submit your outline paper please click here.
The IWA Leading Edge Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies is designed to be the place for sharing the latest insights into how pioneering science, technological innovation and leading practices will shape the major transformation in water management that is underway.