The São Paulo Convention & Visitors Bureau, in a strategic partnership with ESA Latin America, hosted the “International Desalination Association World Congress for Water Reuse and Desalination,” the leading global event for water reuse and desalination. Held for the first time in Latin America, the event featured an industry-leading exhibition, a wide-ranging four-day technical program, visits to plants, and networking events from October 15-20. Approximately 1,200 public and private sector participants from across the globe attended the congress–leaders in all industry sectors, from end users to technology developers and solution providers, academics and researchers, funders, vendors, and consultants.
Several technical sessions were focused on regional success stories that show how water reuse and desalination are helping Latin American countries to develop their major economic sectors. Other sessions addressed water policy, development, governance, finance, and market challenges; water reuse practices; desalination and reuse of water in industrial applications; emerging and advanced technologies; desalination and renewable energies; and desalination and environment. In addition, IDA organized a series of panels and roundtables.
In all, approximately 350 papers representing 40 countries were submitted for consideration in the technical program. In addition, other presentations were offered at the Congressional Innovation Theater. “With data from the IDA Yearbook been showing for years, Latin America, and in particular Brazil, has become a leading user of water desalination and reuse technology. The potential for a greater use of these technologies is enormous, and the interest is very high,” said Emilio Gabbrielli, president of the International Desalination Association.
“Based on years of experience in seeing the positive impact of the IDA World Congress in other parts of the world, hopefully, this event will once again serve as a catalyst for a wider and more appropriate use of these technologies in Brazil and Latin America. This perspective, coupled with Brazil’s strong support, was the reason why IDA selected Brazil as the location for the 2017 World Congress,” he added.
The theme of the 2017 World Congress, “Ensure Your Water Future,” highlighted the importance of water reuse and desalination in addressing the world’s water challenges. “The World Congress presents an unprecedented opportunity for the dissemination of knowledge and offers an ideal opportunity for participants from around the world to know more about the many opportunities offered by Brazil and the rest of Latin America,” Gabbrielli concluded.
Several important Brazilian organizations and institutions are strategic partners of the Congress, including: ABES (Brazilian Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering); ABCON (Brazilian Association of Private Utilities of Water and Sewage Public Services); SINDCON (National Union of Concessionaires); ABIMAQ (Brazilian Association of Machinery and Equipment Industry); CNI (National Confederation of Industry); ABAS (Brazilian Association of Underground Waters); SABESP (Basic Sanitation Company of the State of São Paulo); EMBRATUR; and IICA (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture), amongst others. AIDIS (Inter-American Environmental Association of Sanitary Engineering) and ANEAS (National Association of Water and Sanitation Companies of Mexico) are strategic partners who are located outside Brazil.
The International Desalination Association is the connecting entity for the global water desalination and reuse community. A nonprofit association, IDA serves more than 2,600 key members from 60 countries and reaches an additional 4,000 affiliate members. It consists of scientists, end users, engineers, consultants, and researchers from governments, companies, and academia. IDA is associated with the United Nations as part of a growing international network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). For more info, visit www.idadesal.org.
As the first Convention & Visitors Bureau in South America, the 33-year-old São Paulo Convention & Visitors Bureau is a private state-wide non-profit foundation that currently has more than 700 members, representing each of the 40 segments in the São Paulo tourism trade. Its goals are to grow visitor numbers and increase their stay by bringing in and supporting events, through promotion and through a training program. To do this, the organization’s members include sectors of society in public-private partnerships aimed at making business volume and the consumer market dynamic, contributing to the economic development of destinations, improving quality of life and increasing income for the population while raising visitor numbers. The Foundation’s financial resources come from monthly fees paid by members, from partnerships and from the optional room tax contribution made by guests to member hotels. For more info, visit www.visitesaopaulo.com.
