Guests gather for the 2024 IWA Presidents’ Dinner

Four leading figures in the water sector received Honorary Membership of the International Water Association at the Presidents’ Dinner – hosted jointly by IWA President Tom Mollenkopf AO and IWA Congress President Peter Vanrolleghem on 10 August ahead of IWA’s World Water Congress & Exhibition 2024 in Toronto, Canada. These four were among the prestigious IWA Membership awards and honours announced at the dinner.

Honorary Membership recipients

The four Honorary Membership recipients included Darryl Day, a water professional with over 30 years of experience in the water and energy sectors and an IWA Distinguished Fellow, he is Principal and Director for Wongulla Waters Pty Ltd. His other roles have included being Managing Director of the International Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management (ICE WaRM) until 2019, and Chief Executive Officer of the Peter Cullen Trust until January 2024.

Darryl has also held respected leadership roles, including being President of the Australian Water Association (AWA) and Chair of IWA’s Australian National Committee. He played a pivotal role in securing Melbourne in 2002 and Brisbane in 2016 as the host cities for IWA World Water Congresses.

He has been very active around events, such as co-chairing the joint IWA/PUB Water Convention Programme Committee and helping organise the recent Health Related Water Microbiology Symposium in Darwin, Australia. His contributions have advanced practice and policy around the world.

Jiuhui Qu is a world-renowned water expert, lauded for his transformative contributions to research and real-world applications. He is distinguished professor of the Research Center of Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Tsinghua University and has over 600 peer-reviewed publications to his name, and prestigious memberships in the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and the World Academy of Sciences.

A prominent figure within IWA, Jiuhui has served as an IWA Board Member and is a Distinguished Fellow of the Association. His groundbreaking research has been pivotal in improving China’s water quality and the technologies he has championed are now used widely. He spearheaded the groundbreaking China Concept Plant initiative, achieving significant advancements in water reuse, carbon neutrality, and resource recovery. He continues to influence water policies and practice that are shaping water management strategies worldwide.

Anders Bækgaard has an extensive background in leadership, having been the Executive Director of VandCenter Syd from 2005 to 2017 and the Chief Executive Officer of DANVA, the Danish Water & Waste Water Association, from 1989 to 2005.

Among other key roles, Anders was the Chair of the Danish Environmental Research Programme of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy from 1993 to 2000. He served as the head of the Denmark National Committee from 2000 to 2006 and was Congress President for the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2022 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

His contributions to the water sector have been instrumental in promoting innovation and advancing water management practices in Denmark and internationally.

The fourth recipient was Cheryl Davis. Cheryl worked as a senior manager in the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for over 35 years, working across a range of areas. She has also held many leadership roles in the water sector, including Chair of Baywork, and President of Northern California WateReuse Chapter. She now supports water utilities, professional associations, and non-profit organisations.

A long-standing IWA member and an IWA Fellow, her contributions to IWA include having been Chair of both IWA’s Specialist Group on Sustainability in the Water Sector and its Task Group on Sustainable Use of Water by Industry. She has also led many IWA workshops and webinars, including those at many editions of IWA’s World Water Congress & Exhibition. She has contributed to the sector through publications and has co-edited a book published by IWA Publishing titled ‘Sustainable Industrial Water Use: Perspectives, Incentives, and Goals’.

She has also led multiple IWA webinars on empowering women in the water industry and has recently co-authored the book ‘Women in Water: How to Support Everyone’s Contribution’, published by IWA Publishing.

Outstanding Service Award

Membership awards announced included IWA’s Outstanding Service Award, which was jointly won by Helle Katrine Andersen and Jean-Luc Bertrand-Krajewski.

Helle Katrine has many years of international experience and is a leading figure in both the Danish and Nordic water sector, as well as internationally. She has been Chief Operations Officer of DANVA, the Danish Water and Waste Water Association, since 2002. During this time, she has worked for and with DANVA’s members, on governance, policy, and regulation in the water sector. Her IWA experience includes being Chair of the IWA Danish National Committee since 2012. She has been active in IWA since 2004, leading the National Committee, as well as being a member of the IWA Strategic Council and Board of Directors.

She played a key role in the successful 2022 World Water Congress held in Copenhagen, Denmark, for which she was Chair of the host country committee and of the Utility Leaders Forum. She has also been working to strengthen and promote the benefits of IWA to utilities and to link the Danish water sector with IWA’s strategy, programmes and activities.

Jean-Luc has extensive experience in research and academia. He is a professor at the National Institute of Applied Sciences of Lyon, France, and has been the head of the DEEP Laboratory at the institute. He has been an IWA member for over 25 years and has played many roles within the Association. Since his first contact with IWA in 1990, he has contributed to IWA in various ways. He served as a French representative in the Sewer Systems and Processes Working Group, where he helped organise conferences and workshops, and promoted collaborative research. He later chaired the Urban Drainage Joint Specialist Group. He also played a crucial role in enhancing the activities of IWA’s Specialist Groups through his role as the Chair of the Specialist Groups Sub-Committee in the IWA Strategic Council from 2012 to 2018. From 2018 until recently, Jean-Luc was a member of the Board of Directors of IWA Publishing. His dedication and contributions have been invaluable in fostering a collaborative and innovative environment within IWA and the global water community.

Award for Outstanding Contribution to Water Management & Science

The Award for Outstanding Contribution to Water Management & Science was awarded jointly to Silver Mugisha and Mathi Vathanan.

Silver has over 20 years of experience in water utility operations, international policy, research and advisory services and is the Managing Director of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) in Uganda, which is one of the most well-performing water utilities in Africa. He has been instrumental in the transformation of NWSC and has served the Corporation in various capacities since 1994. Leading teams of experts on a number of institutional development and governance strengthening assignments in various organisations in many African countries and beyond, his international contributions have included being the Vice President (East Africa) of the Executive Board of African Water Association (AfWA). He was the President of the Scientific and Technical Council of AfWA from 2010 to 2014. He was also Chairman of the WOP-Africa Programme Committee from 2010 to 2014, and a member of IWA’s Programme Committee from 2010 to 2012. He is also a Fellow of the IWA and has published many policy and research papers. He has authored a book (published by IWA Publishing) titled ‘Utility Benchmarking and Regulation in Developing Countries: Practical Application of Performance Monitoring and Incentives’.

Mathi of the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Government of Odisha, India, has been a member of the Advisory Board for IWA’s Inclusive Urban Sanitation initiative since 2023 and was the keynote speaker in the opening ceremony of the 2023 IWA Water and Development Congress in Kigali, Rwanda.

As Principal Secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Odisha, he has led a variety of initiatives, including the Jaga Mission, which aids slum dwellers, as well as the 24×7 Drink From Tap Water Supply Programme, which offers every urban household direct access to clean drinking water. Under his guidance, Odisha has achieved 100% household water supply connections in 105 cities out of 115, with 24 cities to date achieving a 24×7 Drink from Tap Quality water supply system. He is also promoting city-wide inclusive sanitation in all 115 cities in Odisha. His approach of a decentralised strategy with community partnership has become a central aspect of the Odisha model of urban governance and his initiatives have earned significant recognition, including the World Habitat Awards in 2019, the UN Habitat World Habitat Awards in 2023, and the Global Water Leader Distinction Award given to utility WATCO at the Global Water Summit in Spain in 2022.