Registration is now open for our 2026 Annual Conference & Exhibit!

With 37 technical sessions, over 200 exhibit booths, student poster displays, and more, there are lots of opportunities to learn, network, and earn Training Contact Hours (TCHs).

Click the links below to learn more and prepare for this year's conference:

• Register to attend
• View the Preliminary Program
• Enroll as a Sponsor/Advertiser
• Reserve Exhibit space
• Apply to be an Innovation Exhibitor
• Enroll as a Future Water Leaders Sponsor to exhibit at the Career Fair
• Register for the Young Professionals Summit
• Sign up to Sponsor the Young Professionals Summit
• Submit a Student Poster Competition abstract
• Book your room at Boston Marriott Copley Place

Enrollment for the Young Professionals Committee's Mentoring Program is now open!

This program was created with the goal of forming a working relationship between those in the beginning of their water industry careers and seasoned professionals.

The program will involve a commitment from mentors and mentees from January 2026 until January 2027. During that time, it is requested that mentors and mentees have an in-person or phone meeting at least once every three months. A new class of mentees will be enrolled at the start of each cycle, but mentees and mentors are encouraged to maintain contact beyond completion of the program at the 2027 Annual Conference.

Submit an application by December 12, 2025 to be considered for this cycle of the program.

On Tuesday, June 6, 2025, the beach town of Westerly hosted a tour of their local Wastewater Treatment Facility with Westerly High School STEM teachers and students. The WWTF is a 2.5 MGD facility, located at 87 Margin St in Westerly, RI, and is currently in design for a future upgrade.

The tour was organized by the superintendent, Tyler Morrissey of Jacobs (Jacobs provides plant operation services for Westerly WWTF), Tracy Santoro from the NEWEA Small Communities Committee, and Andrew Patty from Westerly High School. Ten students and teachers were able to attend.   

The students started the morning with a PowerPoint presentation by Tyler, which introduced the students to the wastewater treatment process, the plant process overview, and discussions about careers that relate to STEM in the wastewater field. Donuts and snacks were donated by Bake Fresh Company of RI and Flygt. 

The presentation was followed by the plant tour, where Tyler discussed the different levels of technology involved in wastewater treatment operations, starting the SCADA controls and monitoring system, followed by the laboratory with examples of lab tests performed onsite and onto the treatment processes which included pre-screening, aeration, denitrification, disinfection, and solids removal. Beakers with samples of the water quality were set out at each location, providing a visual example of how the effluent quality improves throughout the stages of the wastewater treatment process. 

The teachers and students were very engaged throughout the tour and the feedback was only positive. The Jacobs staff did a phenomenal job hosting the students and staff. They were able to highlight the STEM related roles in the wastewater treatment process applied on a daily basis to treat the town’s wastewater, including the IT, engineering, biological, electrical, and mechanical tasks. The school and WWTF are planning to make this an annual event. 

Maine Water Environment Association (MeWEA) is calling on Maine lawmakers to review four newly released studies, which all conclude that organic land application of non-industrial biosolids is an environmentally safer option than landfilling. Since 2022, when Maine became the first in the nation to ban land application due to PFAS concerns, 100-percent of Maine biosolids have been dumped into landfills or shipped out of state. Since the land application ban, Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection has been assessing PFAS levels on farmlands statewide and has identified that only farms that received industrial biosolids, which were used as fertilizer, had high concentrations of PFAS. Farmlands that received non-industrial municipal biosolids had much lower, federally acceptable levels. In light of the new research, testing, and advanced risk management tools, MeWEA is encouraging state leaders to revisit the 2022 policy.

Read the full press release to learn more.

Connecticut: CTWEA will share recap from their Fall Workshop, which took place October 17, on their website in the coming weeks.

Maine: MEWEA has posted photos documenting Force Maine's participation in the 2025 Operations Challenge Competition at WEFTEC.

Massachusetts: MAWEA is always open to submissions for its quarterly newsletter, sent out digitally and in print to members and MA facilities. Reach out to MAWEA for more information.

New Hampshire: NHWPCA's 2026 Sponsorship/Advertising program is now available.

Rhode Island: Save the date for RICWA's Holiday Party and Elections on December 5. This event will take place at Potowomut Golf Club in Warwick, RI.

Vermont: There's still time to register for GMWEA's Fall Meeting, taking place November 6 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Burlington, VT.

NEWEA's seventh annual Online Holiday Auction is now open for bidding!

This auction, which will be live for the entire month of November, features a variety of gift cards and passes to hotels, restaurants, and entertainment around New England. This auction aims to raise funds for continued and expanded programming to support New England water professionals and protect our region's water environment.

Bids will be recorded throughout November, and winning bids will be determined when the auction closes at 11:59 pm on November 30. Each item will be sold to the highest bidder, and winning bidders will receive their purchased item(s) via mail or email during the month of December.

Check out our auction site to start bidding!