American Water Works Association

The American Water Works Association, founded in 1881, describes itself as the largest organisation of water supply professionals in the world: 50,000 members and more than 4,300 utilities that it says supply about 80% of North America’s drinking water. Its first meeting, of 22 utility managers and engineers in St. Louis on 29 March 1881, was also the first Annual Conference and Exposition, so ACE has run for as long as the association has existed.

What it means for exhibitors and attendees

If you sell pipes, valves, meters, treatment systems or utility software, AWWA’s events put you in front of the people who specify and buy them. At ACE25 in Denver, 433 companies took 1,100 booths and met 8,109 attendees, 623 of them from 42 countries, and exhibitor staff brought the total on site to 11,403. Each 10 by 10 foot booth comes with three full conference registrations, so your stand staff can also attend the technical sessions. Operators and engineers can earn Certificates of Completion by scanning in and out of sessions, and AWWA applies each year to state and provincial operator agencies for ACE credit.

Events it runs

Event	Where	Next dates
Water Quality Technology Conference	Memphis, Tennessee	15 to 19 November 2026
Young Professionals Summit	Vancouver, British Columbia	14 to 16 February 2027
The Utility Management Conference (with WEF)	Vancouver, British Columbia	16 to 19 February 2027
Membrane Technology Conference	Denver, Colorado	22 to 25 March 2027
Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE27)	San Diego Convention Center	13 to 16 June 2027
Water Infrastructure Conference	Dallas, Texas	3 to 6 October 2027

ACE moves around North America each June with a local AWWA section as partner. After San Diego it is scheduled for Atlanta (4 to 7 June 2028), Philadelphia (10 to 13 June 2029) and Anaheim (16 to 19 June 2030).

Beyond events

AWWA publishes water industry standards and manuals of practice, the Journal AWWA, and runs certificate courses and eLearning. It set up what is now the Water Research Foundation in 1966 and opened its Washington office in 1967; its headquarters moved to Denver in 1972.

How it compares

Like the Offshore Technology Conference, Inc., a Houston non-profit, and AFCEA International, which brings WEST to the San Diego Convention Center, AWWA is a member association rather than a commercial show company. For water technology outside North America, see Aquatech Amsterdam, the biennial process and drinking water exhibition at RAI Amsterdam. Browse trade shows in San Diego, the energy and environment sector and shows in the United States, and read understanding attendance and exhibitor figures before comparing a total that includes stand staff with attendee counts from other shows.

Source: awwa.org