This year marked Spiral Water Technologies’ first time exhibiting at WEFTEC—the Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference. Held in Chicago (and in New Orleans in alternating years), it is billed as the largest conference of its kind in North America. The exhibition alone featured more than 800 companies in the vast environs of McCormick Place.

Exhibiting there was quite a success for Spiral Water. But beyond the number of leads – and one order finalized right on the show floor, the show yielded some valuable insights. Here are three key takeaways.

1. There was a lot of discussion about wastewater treatment in plants in both municipal and industrial facilities. With water scarcity on everyone’s mind, there was more discussion than I can recall about ‘natural water’ as the source for operations such as distilleries, aquaculture and even food processing. Natural water resources include rivers, lakes and ponds that may be affected by variable TSS and upset conditions. Treating this water is something at which we excel, and our filters are easy to use and occupy a small footprint.
2. From a business perspective, we saw more potential partners such as OEMs, resellers and system integrators than I had expected. They came from around the country and beyond, and had an opportunity to see our one of our T-1000 filters both inside and out. This not only captured a lot of attention – it provided a great opportunity to showcase our technology and the difference between our advanced automatic self-cleaning filters and other types of filters on the market.
3. Shows like WEFTEC are about more than products. They are about relationships. This was a wonderful opportunity to catch up in person with colleagues, meet new people and spend time with them, and tell them about the 200+ systems we have in the field. The opportunity to make new connections extends far beyond our borders. We had many visitors from beyond the U.S. They came from the Philippines, Chile, Brazil, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia, Canada and Mexico. Talking with them was time well spent, and it’s so good to be able to meet face to face. Nothing can replace that.