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I hope you have all survived the holiday season. Now it’s time to get into the winter routine.

I have returned from an enlightening and invigorating trip to Saskatoon to take in the 2005 WCWWA Annual Conference. With meetings and pre-meetings and gatherings, hey, where’s the conference? They really do keep you busy.

While at the conference I tried to act respectable (well I tried), network with people, promote Cross Connection Control and represent the Committee. Being the only one there from the Committee, the job was quite overwhelming. There was little to nothing at the convention to do with Cross Connection Control. This shows me that we all have a lot of work to do.

This leads me to inform you about next year’s conference which will be held in Winnipeg. There will be a complete block of presentations dedicated to Cross Connection Control. Thanks goes out to the organizers and Jeff O’Driscoll whom, I believe, is at least partly responsible for this. There is a call for expression of interest to submit paper in January. They are hoping to accept a minimum of four papers but could go higher, the more the merrier guys and gals. So get them in ASAP. This is our opportunity to get the word out there regarding cross connection, so let’s not let it slip away. The contact for papers is; Duane Griffin, P.Eng. Telephone 204 986-4483, Fax 204 224-0032, E-mail dgriffin@winnipeg.ca. With this representation of cross connection, we could probably expect some representation on the trade show floor as well. Suppliers, book your spots.

Jeff is also partly responsible for the Membership Display that is displayed at WCS, AWWA gatherings. Cross Connection Control is quite prominent on the display. Note also the date change for the 2006 WCWWA Annual Conference and Trade Show. The new dates are September 24 – 27, 2006. (See http://www.wcwwa.ca/Conference.htm for updates)

As we continue into the future, with more complex water systems, and the advent of recycled grey water systems to conserve water, our responsibility as backflow specialists becomes more and more prevalent. So enjoy this issue of Backtalk, and until next time – "Keep spreading the word about Cross Connection Control"

Canmore, Alberta was the site for this years Western Canada Section Cross Connection Control meeting held on the 27th and 28th of May. Committee members and invited guests from each of the Canadian AWWA sections were in attendance. The scenery and weather were both spectacular.

The WCS has been the national voice of cross connection control during the past decade. As a result we currently have committee members from the British Columbia, the Ontario and the Atlantic sections sitting on the WCS committee. However, as each section develops their own cross connection control committees the current members who reside outside of the Western Canada Section boundaries will be moving to their local sections. The Canadian Cross Connection Control Steering committee will represent each section nationally.

The Canadian Cross Connection Control Steering committee also held their annual meeting at Canmore, in conjunction with the WCS meeting. The CCCC Steering committee is comprised of two members from each of the five Canadian AWWA sections, British Columbia, Western Canada, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. The May 2005 meeting was the first to have representation from each AWWA section. I feel the Canadian committee is now well on it’s way to becoming a strong voice that will promote and define cross connection control throughout Canada.

I take great satisfaction in the work our committee members have done to further the advance of cross connection control and the protection of drinking water in Canada. The cooperation of each section has resulted in a Canadian Committee that is national in scope and capable of providing a unified approach to cross connection control and training. The WCS training manual has been translated into French and this French version is now being used in Quebec classrooms.

I have been very honoured to sit as the chairman of both the WCS CCC committee and the CCCC Steering committee during the past two years.

Thanks to everyone who has helped to make the past two years such a productive and rewarding time for our committees.