Knight Ridder/Tribune "Business News "
Mar. 3--A world's worth of water technology expertise is coming to Fresno next month, and the central San Joaquin Valley is invited.
The International Water Technology Conference, set for April 2-4 at the Save Mart Center at California State University, Fresno, will feature companies on the cutting edge of water technology and experts on international developments in the field.
From new water supply and conservation technologies to the use of anti-microbial ozone to prevent contamination of crops, the conference will offer plenty of value to the Valley, organizers say -- and the Valley has experts to offer in return.
"This will help bring attention to the important water technology in the region and hopefully to attract new companies," said Dave Zoldoske, director of Fresno State's International Center for Water Technology, which is holding the event.
So far, about 40 companies and 75 speakers are signed up for the three-day event, along with about 200 attendees, Zoldoske said, but "we'd like to see 300 or 400 when we're done."
The first two days of the conference will be devoted to workshops and technical sessions on water supply and reuse, irrigation and anti-microbial ozone -- the last topic one of interest not just to farmers, but to companies in all aspects of delivering crops to market, he said.
"We believe there are a bunch of folks in the agriculture community, in food processing and involved in the shipping of food, who would be interested in attending this," Zoldoske said, noting that recent E. coli outbreaks linked to spinach and lettuce have the industry focused on ensuring a safer food supply.
Attendees from a host of countries, including the Philippines, Turkey, Pakistan and Nigeria, have signed up for the conference, he said.
Speakers include experts on water policy, including the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Wastewater Management, Mexico's former undersecretary of environmental management and the director of the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
From the business side, keynote speakers include the general manager of General Electric's water and process technologies, Zoldoske said.
Also speaking will be Quentin Kelly, founder and chairman of WorldWater Power Corp., a New Jersey-based company that recently took up space in the newly opened Claude Laval Water and Energy Technology Incubator on the Fresno State campus.
The incubator, a partnership of Fresno State and the Clovis-based Central Valley Business Incubator, combines a state-of-the-art testing laboratory with business development services for its members, Zoldoske said.
WorldWater, which makes solar-powered pumps for irrigation systems, water utilities, food processing plants and refrigeration and cooling systems, is a company that can help the Valley deal with environmental problems, he said.
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