The J-U-B Water Treatment Group (WTG) and SLC Water/Wastewater team had a great showing at the 2026 WEAU Annual Conference in St. George, Utah. The WEAU Conference provides our teams with a valuable opportunity to learn from industry experts about the latest advances in wastewater technology, network with colleagues to exchange innovative solutions and best practices and connect with existing and future clients to discover new project opportunities.
First, J-U-B was well represented on the technical program with three presentations:
- Building a Sustainable Water Workforce, Presented by Katie Reams
- Keeping Our Head Above the Groundwater – 5300 West Lift Station, Presented by Whitney Davidson
- Spanish Fork and Mapleton WRF – Leaping Across the Street and Into Advanced Water Reclamation, Presented by Gary Vance
All three presentations were well attended, with Katie’s workforce development presentation receiving a special shoutout during the awards banquet!
Katie Reams and Lauren Schmidt, who serve on the WEAU Young Professionals Committee, helped facilitate the YP/Operations Challenge Social that brings together young professionals, operators, and WEAU members for an evening of networking and connection. On Friday, they helped with the YP Committee Open Forum, where new YPs along with seasoned experts shared feedback on how WEAU can continue to grow their membership base and make a positive impact.
At the awards banquet, Andrew Hobson was awarded a golden shovel and inducted into the Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers (5S). The 5S Society honors outstanding service to WEAU, with Andrew volunteering to help with the WEAU conference registration desk for several years. As always, the induction ceremony includes a mild “roast” of the new members, requiring them to wear a plunger hat and listen to entertaining stories from their life and about their time volunteering with WEAU.
Gary Vance, former WEAU President-Elect, was inducted as the 2026-2027 WEAU President and now holds onto the giant golden shovel throughout the year as a symbol of his leadership to WEAU. Katie will continue her second year as a WEAU Director and Lauren was elected as the new WEAU Treasurer, after serving as Deputy Treasurer for the last year.
Lauren also competed in the WEAU Operations Challenge competition for the third year in a row. Operations Challenge has been dubbed the “Wastewater Olympics” and is a showcase of excellence in wastewater treatment, where skilled teams of professionals compete in a series of five timed events. Lauren’s Young Professionals Ops Challenge team repeated their win on the Process Control event and narrowly missed out on 1st place in the Laboratory event, taking 2nd. They finished 4th overall out of nine teams, with their team being the only non-operator team! Overall, J-U-B was well represented at the conference with our team members serving as great brand ambassadors for J-U-B.
