The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Water forum coming to Dayton in May

Company builds success with high-profile masonry projects
9:39 p.m.
Greene airport work could attract jobs
2:27 p.m.
Planning a home improvement? Following these tips
11:21 a.m.
Hopes remain for more jobs at tech development
6:29 p.m.
Used car prices to increase 1.8 percent
11:17 a.m.
> More headlines

By Thomas Gnau, Staff Writer Updated 10:26 PM Friday, January 15, 2010

Talking with Vincent Caprio, it’s easy to note his East Coast accent.

But when it comes to emphasizing water and its management, Caprio — chief operating officer of the Shelton, Conn.-based Water Innovations Alliance — wants to come inland to Dayton.

The Water Innovations Alliance, an association promoting water technologies, is planning the inaugural Dayton Water Conference, at the University of Dayton May 10-12.

“It really is a water city,” Caprio said of Dayton.

Caprio said the Dayton Development Coalition invited him here in November. He was introduced to UD and its engineering programs and he learned of the region’s 22-member Water Roundtable, in which local leaders try to market the Miami Valley’s water advantages.

Caprio came away impressed.

“There is an abundance of water, whereas in most cities, the aquifers are drying up and there are severe water shortages,” he said.

He and others believe Dayton is the perfect place to sharpen awareness of water technologies and prospects.

And yes, he said he plans to make the Dayton conference a yearly event.

Any business that depends on water — in information technology, manufacturing, medicine or elsewhere — understands its importance, said Maureen Patterson, the coalition’s vice president, stakeholder relations. “Water is the next oil,” she said.

Water will double to triple in cost in the next five to 10 years, according to Business Week magazine, noted Adam Murka, a coalition spokesman.

Dayton should be poised to take advantage of its advantages. “This is a region that knows how to commercialize technology anyway,” Murka said.

Sally Gutierrez, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Risk Management Research Laboratory Office of Research and Development, will attend, as will representatives from American Water, Hach, IBM, Intel and a local firm, Vandalia water infrastructure firm Crown Solutions.

For information on attending or exhibiting at the conference, contact Caprio at vince@waterinnovations.org.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Share this article