NC One Water

SOLD OUT - 2026 Spring Conference

	4/27/2026 to 4/29/2026
When:	Monday, April 27, 2026 to Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Where:	Great Wolf Lodge Concord 10175 Weddington Road Concord, North Carolina 28027 United States
Contact:	Admin admin@nconewater.org

Online registration is closed.

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NC One Water Spring Conference Event Page

The Spring Conference provides attendees with the opportunity to network with other industry professionals and earn continuing education credits to apply towards water and wastewater licenses.

DETAILS:

Dates: Monday, April 27, 2026 to Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Location: Great Wolf Lodge Concord
10175 Weddington Road, Concord, NC 28027

This conference is SOLD OUT! For cancellations or transfers, please email admin@nconewater.org or see the Registration Desk on-site.

NOTE: This is a tentative working schedule. Times will change as content is finalized. An updated schedule will be posted to this event page as content evolves, and a final schedule will be sent prior to the event.

Monday, April 27, 2026

3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Exhibitor Setup

4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
GROW / Welcome Reception

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Conference Registration Desk Open

7:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Exhibitor Booths Open

7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
SYP Meet & Greet

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Opening Session

9:10 a.m. – 11:40 a.m.
Technical Sessions

11:40 a.m. – 12:40 p.m.
Lunch

1:00 p.m. – 2:10 p.m.
Technical Sessions

2:10 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.
Afternoon Break & Exhibitor Networking

2:40 p.m. – 5:10 p.m.
Technical Sessions

5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Evening Reception

5:00 p.m.
Women of Water Meetup

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

7:30 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Conference Registration Desk Open

7:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Exhibitor Booths Open

8:30 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.
Technical Sessions

10:20 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Morning Break & Exhibitor Networking

11:00 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.
Technical Sessions

12:10 p.m. – 1:10 p.m.
Lunch

1:10 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.
Forum

2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Afternoon Break

3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
"Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong" Movie Screening

TECHNICAL PROGRAM & CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS:

Technical Sessions at the Spring Conference will be approved for Water and/or Wastewater Continuing Education Credit. Any course approved for Water or Wastewater Credit is approved for PE PDHs.

Speakers: Confirm your participation and presentation time here by Monday, March 30, 2026.

Attendees have the opportunity to earn up to 5.5 CEUs on Tuesday, 4/28, and up to 4 CEUs on Wednesday, 4/29. Please note that each individual session is approved for 0.5 CEUs unless otherwise noted.

DETAILED TECHNICAL SCHEDULE:

Time	Track	Session Title & Speaker(s)	CEU Approval
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM	-	OPENING SESSION Jackie Jarrell (Raftelis, WEF Fellow)	W	WW	PE
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM	-	Behind The Splash: Great Wolf Lodge Pump Room Tour	W		PE
9:10 AM - 9:40 AM	Special Topics	Engineers Without Borders Needs Mentors To Cultivate A New Generation of Global Minded Engineers Roger Price (Price Environmental Services)	W		PE
9:10 AM - 9:40 AM	O&M	Best-Practice Takeaways from Electromagnetic and Ultrasonic Assessment of a Ductile Iron Force Main Brad Gresham (Xylem)	W	WW	PE
9:10 AM - 9:40 AM	Wastewater	Solids Handling Improvements at the Charlotte Water Mallard Creek WRF George Simon (CDM Smith), Michael Vaniska, Charles Cutajar (Charlotte Water)		WW	PE
9:10 AM - 9:40 AM	Water	Bridging the Gap - Empowering Water Systems to Tackle Emerging Contaminants... Amanda Berger, Morgan DiCarlo (Arcadis)	W		PE
9:50 AM - 10:20 AM	Wastewater	Understanding UV Disinfection: Principles, Design, and Implementation Patrick Bollman (Xylem)		WW	PE
9:50 AM - 10:20 AM	O&M	AI-Driven Sewer Monitoring: Predictive Detection of Blockages and Infiltration Daniel Mendoza (Vertex Industrial Communications)		WW	PE
9:50 AM - 10:20 AM	Water	Statewide Costs to Comply with Federal PFAS MCLs Alexander Gorzalski (One Water Engineering)	W		PE
9:50 AM - 10:20 AM	Special Topics	The Ripple Effect of HR Digital Transformation: Building Trust and Lasting Change Alex Hayner, Steve Wood (Charlotte Water), Steigen Johnson (City of Charlotte)	W		PE
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM	-	Behind The Splash: Great Wolf Lodge Pump Room Tour	W		PE
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM	Water	Is PFAS Sample Cross-contamination a Major Concern? Lindsay Boone (Pace Analytical)	W	WW	PE
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM	Wastewater	Thickening and Dewatering Optimization: Lessons Learned Edward Fritz (Jacobs)		WW	PE
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM	Special Topics	Pathways with Purpose: Expanding Access to Water Careers Courtney Lee (The Water Tower)	W		PE
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM	O&M	Separating Out the Crap: How to Innovate in a Changing Industry Heather McNeil (InfoSense)		WW	PE
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM	-	Behind The Splash: Great Wolf Lodge Pump Room Tour	W		PE
11:10 AM - 11:40 AM	Water	Evaluation of septic system failures and private well water quality in NC Rita Gyimah (UNC Chapel Hill)	W	WW	PE
11:10 AM - 11:40 AM	Wastewater	Quantifying & Mitigating Liquid-Phase Sulfides and Atmospheric H2S... Todd Muncie (Source Technologies)		WW	PE
11:10 AM - 11:40 AM	Special Topics	Utility Best Practices to Prepare for Post-Disaster Resilience Funding Druanne Cote, Cassidy Ezzi (ICF)	W	WW	PE
11:10 AM - 11:40 AM	O&M	Hurricane Helene Emergency Response – Turbidity Reduction System Anna Lawrence (CDM Smith)	W		PE
11:40 AM - 12:40 PM	-	LUNCH BREAK
1:00 PM - 1:45 PM	-	Behind The Splash: Great Wolf Lodge Pump Room Tour	W		PE
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM	Wastewater	Big Creek WRF, GA: The story of the membrane plant that faced off against Helene Damone Supica (Kubota Water and Environment)		WW	PE
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM	Special Topics	From Meter Reader to Data Translator: Managing Workforce Change Joey Mitchell (UMS)	W		PE
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM	O&M	Conversion of Wrightsville Beach Remote Operations Larry Mitchell (CDM Smith), Wesley Foy (CFPUA)	W	WW	PE
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM	Water	AI Powered Water Sustainability Nicole Barthel (Schneider Electric)	W		PE
1:40 PM - 2:10 PM	O&M	Our radios have been….”jammed!” Christopher Clark, Adam Baker (Union County Water)	W	WW	PE
1:40 PM - 2:10 PM	Wastewater	Flood Frequency Estimation Using the Best Available Information Alex Pellett (Bolton & Menk, Inc.)		WW	PE
1:40 PM - 2:10 PM	Water	Utilizing City of Concords Hydraulic Model to Assist in the Design Crystal Broadbent, Ellen Hess, Caitlyn Grutzik (Hazen and Sawyer)	W		PE
1:40 PM - 2:10 PM	Special Topics	Reaping the Benefits of AMI Joseph Comparini (Jacobs)	W		PE
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM	-	Behind The Splash: Great Wolf Lodge Pump Room Tour	W		PE
2:10 PM - 2:40 PM	-	Exhibitor Break & Networking
2:40 PM - 3:10 PM	Water	Utilizing Open-Source Solutions to Oversee Water Loss Management Chris Penwell (Cavanaugh Solutions)	W		PE
2:40 PM - 3:10 PM	Wastewater	Water Reclamation and Reuse Technologies: MBR design Kevin Scales (Thomas & Hutton)		WW	PE
2:40 PM - 3:10 PM	Special Topics	Reduce, Recover, Regenerate: Lessons from Costa Rica’s Circular Water Economy Jayla Berry (Charlotte Water)	W		PE
2:40 PM - 3:10 PM	O&M	Predictable, Not Reactive: Lessons from an Agency’s Shift in O&M Strategy Ken Pilkins (Nexinite, LLC)	W	WW	PE
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM	-	Behind The Splash: Great Wolf Lodge Pump Room Tour	W		PE
3:20 PM - 3:50 PM	Water	Building Concord’s System Resiliency through Risk Management Steven Nebiker (Western Hydrologics)	W		PE
3:20 PM - 3:50 PM	O&M	Moving into the Future: Southside Water Reclamation Facility O&M Michael Morton (CFPUA)	W	WW	PE
3:20 PM - 3:50 PM	Wastewater	Building Information Modeling in Action: Managing Sludge Dewatering Replacement Zach Pruitt (Harper General Contractors)		WW	PE
3:20 PM - 3:50 PM	Special Topics	Minimizing the Gap: Open-Data Machine Learning for Coastal Water Quality Prediction Colleen Dongarra (UNC Chapel Hill)	W		PE
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM	-	Behind The Splash: Great Wolf Lodge Pump Room Tour	W		PE
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM	Wastewater	Optimization of PAC Treatment for PFAS in Source Waters of the City of Durham Brice Long (HDR, Inc.)	W		PE
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM	Water	Virtual Eyes on Water Loss: How PRASA is Tackling Non-Revenue Water Grace Pleasant (GHD)	W		PE
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM	O&M	Leveraging the Toolbox to Find Significant I/I Jeff Griffiths, Christina Camonayan (RJN Group)	W	WW	PE
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM	Special Topics	Reactive to Proactive: Turning Inspection Data Into Predictive Capital Plans Berk Uslu (Garver)		WW	PE
4:40 PM - 5:10 PM	Wastewater	Bridging the Gap: Retrofitting Infrastructure with Cloth Media Filtration Rose McSherry (Nexom, Inc.)		WW	PE
4:40 PM - 5:10 PM	Special Topics	Navigating LCRI Compliance with Real-World Approaches Isabella Stubbs (Freese and Nichols)	W		PE
4:40 PM - 5:10 PM	Water	Funding the Flow: Balancing Investment Needs, Revenue, and Rate Stability Alexander Bellino (Arcadis)	W		PE
4:40 PM - 5:10 PM	O&M	Assessing and Rehabilitating Aging Infrastructure: Strategies for Utility Management Jack McKnight, Kelly Alexander (HDR, Inc.)	W	WW	PE
Wednesday, April 29, 2026
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM	Wastewater	Birchwood Trunk Force Main Rehabilitation Building Success Together Ryan Delo (RK&K)		WW	PE
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM	O&M	Innovations in AI and Data Analytics for Smarter Water Infrastructure Management Samantha Pierce (Sewer AI)	W	WW	PE
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM	Water	The Culmination of a 20-year Journey: Virgil R. Hazelett Reservoir at Cobbs Creek Nelson Dove (Arcadis)	W		PE
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM	Special Topics	Demystifying AI with Practical SCADA Integration Nicole Humphrey, Pavol Segedy (HDR, Inc.)	W	WW	PE
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM	-	Behind The Splash: Great Wolf Lodge Pump Room Tour	W		PE
9:10 AM - 9:40 AM	Wastewater	Expanding Capacity to 34 MGD Through Maximum Reuse of Existing Infrastructure George Anipsitakis (Brown and Caldwell), Thomas Hahn (WSACC)		WW	PE
9:10 AM - 9:40 AM	Water	Go with the Flow: Upgrading Phoenixville’s Water Intake, One Pipe at a Time James Bulicki (RVE, Inc.)	W		PE
9:10 AM - 9:40 AM	O&M	Innovative Solutions for the Most Challenging Lift Station in Sarasota County Mike Nixon (McKim & Creed)		WW	PE
9:10 AM - 9:40 AM	Special Topics	Monticello’s Digital Journey: The Adoption of AI at Monticello’s WWTP Matthew Utley (City of Monticello), Rick Oppendisano, Matthew Klein (Delta Bravo)		WW	PE
9:50 AM - 10:20 AM	Special Topics	Five Projects, One Partner: Advancing Success in HRSD’s SWIFT Program Matt McKinnon, Mark Peters (Garney Companies)	W	WW	PE
9:50 AM - 10:20 AM	Water	Control Your Narrative: A Practical Guide to Engaging Your Community About Contaminants Gage Bentley (RTI International)	W		PE
9:50 AM - 10:20 AM	Wastewater	Net Zero By Way of Wastewater Benchmarking: Lessons Learned from NH Joey Rhyne (Arcadis)	W	WW	PE
9:50 AM - 10:20 AM	O&M	Promoting Customer Care, Operations Driven Odor Control Adrian Romero (Jacobs)		WW	PE
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM	-	Behind The Splash: Great Wolf Lodge Pump Room Tour	W		PE
10:20 AM - 11:00 AM	-	Exhibitor Break & Networking
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM	-	Behind The Splash: Great Wolf Lodge Pump Room Tour	W		PE
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM	Special Topics	PFAS in Biosolids: Stop the Guessing, Keep the Schedule, Get Defensible Results Noelle DeStefano (Metiri Group)	W	WW	PE
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM	Wastewater	Paving the Way for Regionalization: Solids Transfer and Conveyance from Stowe RWRRF Morgan Leger (CDM Smith), Nicole Bartlett (Charlotte Water)		WW	PE
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM	Water	Advancing quantitative microbial risk assessment to effectively inform health practitioners Linden Neal (UNC Chapel Hill)	W		PE
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM	O&M	Wastewater Solids Incineration Abroad—What can we learn from other countries? Lloyd Winchell (Brown and Caldwell)		WW	PE
11:40 AM - 12:10 PM	Water	Flexible Fabric-Reinforced Pipe (FFRP) Rehabilitation - Charleston, SC Ahmed Hassan (J. Fletcher Creamer & Son)	W		PE
11:40 AM - 12:10 PM	Wastewater	Transforming Biosolids into Resilient, Energy-Efficient Treatment Operations Gregory Sullivan (RVE, Inc.)		WW	PE
11:40 AM - 12:10 PM	Special Topics	PFAS Can't Survive Pyrolysis, Two Studies to Prove It Lloyd Winchell (Brown and Caldwell)		WW	PE
11:40 AM - 12:10 PM	O&M	Managing Construction Quality Jonathan Theodore, Matthew Cartwright (Freese and Nichols)	W	WW	PE
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM	-	Behind The Splash: Great Wolf Lodge Pump Room Tour	W		PE
12:10 PM - 1:10 PM	-	LUNCH BREAK
1:10 PM - 12:10 PM	FORUM	Capacity in Municipal Water & Sewer Systems Chad VonCannon (Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County) Jennifer Hubbard (City of Concord) Jeff Corley (City of Concord) Crystal Broadbent (Hazen & Sawyer) Approved for 1.5 CEUs	W	WW	PE
2:40 PM - 3:00 PM	-	BREAK
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM	Movie	Movie Screening - Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong	N/A	N/A	N/A

SPECIAL EVENTS:

GROW / Welcome Reception (RSVP Recommended)

Monday, April 27 | 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. on the Portico

Kick off the NC One Water 2026 Spring Conference at the GROW Welcome Social! Hosted by the Membership Engagement Community, this social is open to Spring Conference attendees & NC One Water members.

Student & Young Professionals Meet & Greet

Tuesday, April 28 | 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. in the Oaks Ballroom (Operations & Maintenance Track)

Join NC One Water's Student & Young Professionals group for a morning meet & greet prior to the start of the conference! Get to know more about our SYP programming, learn tips on how to successfully navigate and get the most out of your conference experience, and meet new peers in the water industry.

Student & Young Professionals Meet & Greet

Behind The Splash: Great Wolf Lodge Pump Room Tours (Signup Required)

Tuesday, April 28th & Wednesday, April 29th | Various Times

Great Wolf Lodge is bringing back their Pump Room Tours exclusively for NC One Water's Spring Conference! Take a walk behind the scenes at Great Wolf Lodge's water park. Tour participants must be registered for NC One Water's Spring Conference to attend. Sign up early to reserve your spot! Check-in for all tour times will be at the Conference Center Foyer Registration Desk. Tours will leave promptly at their designated time and will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Women of Water Meetup

Tuesday, April 28 | 5:00 p.m. in the White Pine 2 Ballroom (Special Topics Track)

Join NC One Water's Women of Water group for a casual meetup during the conference's evening reception.

Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong Movie Screening (RSVP Recommended)

Wednesday, April 29 | 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. in the White Pine 1 Ballroom (Wastewater Track)

Finish out the conference with a red carpet screening of "Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong". RSVP recommended as space is limited! Film Synopsis: As America’s aging wastewater system begins to fail, one plant does all it can to stay afloat. Plant manager Dustin Price, together with his dedicated team, battle aging infrastructure, “forever chemicals” and the misconceptions of an odor averse public to keep Portland, Maine clean and healthy.

PRICING & REGISTRATION:

This conference is SOLD OUT! For cancellations or transfers, please email admin@nconewater.org or see the Registration Desk on-site.

	EARLY January 26^th – February 9^th			STANDARD February 10^th – April 9^th			LATE After April 9^th
Registration Type	Member	Utility Member	Non-Member	Member	Utility Member	Non-Member	Member	Utility Member	Non-Member
Full	$414.00	$436.50	$459.00	$459.00	$481.50	$504.00	$504.00	$526.50	$549.00
Tuesday	$210.00	$232.50	$255.00	$255.00	$277.50	$300.00	$300.00	$322.50	$345.00
Wednesday	$210.00	$232.50	$255.00	$255.00	$277.50	$300.00	$300.00	$322.50	$345.00
Retired	$175.00			$175.00			$175.00

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LODGING:

IMPORTANT NOTICE: NC One Water does not solicit outside help to book rooms for attendees or exhibitors. All bookings should go through the hotels directly.

Great Wolf Lodge, Concord: $109.99/night

Reservations for the room block can be made by calling 866-751-9653 or at www.greatwolf.com/concord and using block offer code 2604WATE

Last Day to Book: Sunday, April 5, 2026

SPONSORS:

Elevate your brand’s visibility while supporting the professional growth of water and wastewater experts across North Carolina. Our Spring Conference Sponsorship opportunities provide direct access to industry decision-makers and showcase your commitment to "Connecting North Carolina One Drop at a Time."

EXHIBITORS:

Our exhibit tables are sold out! Click Here for Spring Conference Exhibitor Information. We appreciate all of our exhibitor's continued support and look forward to a successful event!

QUESTION OR NEED ASSISTANCE?

Please contact Sarah Sterling at SSterling@nconewater.org with any questions or concerns.

For questions regarding CEU/PDH, contact Paul Willeboordse at PWilleboordse@nconewater.org

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