Registration and housing is now open for WEFTEC 2013, the Water Environment Federation’s (WEF) 86th Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference. Scheduled for October 5-9, 2013 at McCormick Place South in Chicago, Ill., this year’s event includes a new pricing structure that accommodates for ongoing economic challenges and gives greater access to the hallmarks of WEFTEC: the highest quality educational, business, and networking opportunities available in the water sector today.

“Of the many activities and programs that WEF provides to our members and to the water sector as a whole, nothing surpasses WEFTEC as the tangible proof of our ongoing commitment to water professionals and to our shared mission of supporting clean and safe water worldwide,” said WEF Executive Director Jeff Eger. “WEF wants the Water Quality Event to be your Water Quality Event so we have taken steps to make WEFTEC more accessible than ever. To help do that, we are pleased to be able to offer a new pricing structure that will help streamline registration, reduce technical session prices for most participants, and offer complimentary exhibition registration to all attendees.”

As the largest annual water quality conference and exhibition in the world, WEFTEC 2013 will use more than one million net square feet of exhibition and meeting space at Chicago’s famed McCormick Place Convention Center. To date, the 2013 technical program includes nearly 1,000 expert speakers, 140 technical sessions, 27 workshops and ten local facility tours. A wide range of topics and focus areas allow attendees to design their own, unique learning experience with the opportunity to earn continuing education credits.

The 2013 focus areas include: resource recovery including nutrients and energy; energy management; stormwater; collection systems; wastewater treatment design; facility operations and maintenance; utility management and leadership; residuals and biosolids management; water reclamation, reuse, and desalination; disinfection and public health; watershed management and sustainability; industrial issues including petrochemical, refinery, and food/beverage industries; and innovation across all topics.

Contained on one level of the convention center, WEFTEC’s unrivaled exhibition will complement the technical program by providing access to more than 900 exhibiting companies and their technical experts who will show the latest developments, research, solutions, and cutting-edge technologies in the field. Also featured on the exhibition floor will be mobile sessions and the popular Innovation Pavilion and Stormwater Pavilion.

Building on the success of its expanded stormwater focus, WEF will also launch its first-ever Stormwater Congress. Co-located with WEFTEC 2013, the event will be held at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place from October 7-9. It will feature focused programming on stormwater-related issues and provide access to all WEFTEC exhibitors, including those in the Stormwater Pavilion and other conference exhibitors that feature equipment and services on stormwater and wet weather-related issues.

Other conference highlights will include the Opening General Session and the Water Leaders Session on Mon., Oct. 7; the annual community outreach project, poster sessions, the design competition, the 26th annual Operations Challenge competition, and more.

When considering the thousands of water professionals who travel from around the world to attend WEFTEC each year, there’s little doubt that it’s the place to be for those who strive to be bold and innovative managers of our water resources,” continued Eger. “We’re excited about the new ideas, new connections and fantastic business opportunities that await us in Chicago this October.”

Full details and benefits of the new pricing structure will be available in the registration materials and on the official conference website, www.weftec.org