It was no small task to coordinate arrangements for about 800 people for four days, but West Salem Public Works Director Wade Peterson is happy the village was host to this year’s Wisconsin Wastewater Operators’ Association conference.

“It went great,” said Peterson, who also sits on the WWOA Board of Directors. “We got to look at a lot of new products, talk with vendors and did some networking.”

The annual WWOA conference is the largest gathering of association members in the state and draws wastewater professionals together — from municipal staff to vendors.

With seminars, training classes and exhibits, the conference is looked at as an opportunity for wastewater professionals to increase their knowledge, get informed on current issues and take that information back to their respective municipality.

While the event was actually held at the La Crosse Center, West Salem hosted the 41st conference, which was held Oct. 23-26. Peterson said the event drew 835 people and all 120 vendor booths were full.

As host, West Salem and its wastewater treatment plant was featured in the fall edition of “The Clarifier,” a quarterly magazine for those interested in fields such as wastewater management. Peterson said it was quite an honor.

“As many plants as there are in the state, to get yours on the cover is pretty neat,” he said.

On Oct. 25, tours were given of West Salem’s wastewater treatment plant, which was built in 1999 and is designed for an average daily flow of 640,000 gallons. About 35 people took the tour.

“They liked the facility; they were impressed,” Peterson said. “The plant is about 10 years old and still looks as good as when it was built. They liked some of the operations that we do.”

In addition to Peterson, West Salem wastewater plant operators Greg Imgrund and Merle Noren also attended on behalf of the village.

Both Imgrund, who has been with the village since 1992, and Noren, who has worked for West Salem since 2002, said the conference was beneficial in meeting new people and gathering new ideas.

“It was just good to get out and meet other operators,” Noren said.

This was the first time West Salem hosted the conference. With La Crosse as the designated site every four years in the state, Peterson said the village might be up for hosting it again in the future.