The Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering (MEWE) Specialist Group of the International Water Association (IWA) was founded in 1988 under the name Activated Sludge Population Dynamics (ASPD) and the inaugural ASPD meeting was held in Brighton, UK in July 1988 at the biennial conference of the IAWPRC. While the original mission of the group was to provide a platform for researchers to engage with microbial ecology in wastewater treatment systems, the group's activities have gradually expanded to assess the ecology of microbial communities across the engineered water cycle. This recognition of expansion of the Specialist Group's activities was consolidated through a formal name change from ASPD to MEWE in July 2009. 

 The goal of the MEWE Specialist group and the MEWE conferences are to promote the rational and effective engineering of systems in the water cycle populated by open microbial communities using emerging technologies and concepts of microbial ecology. MEWE seeks to do this through research, dissemination, outreach and dialogue with practitioners all over the world. A central topic of interest to MEWE is to understand and control the relationship between microbial community composition and the function and performance of engineered water systems. MEWE also aims to foster greater collaboration with industry, in order to develop novel, technology-oriented microbe-driven solutions and provide the most benefit to the water sector in a quick and effective way.

The past MEWE conferences have been held in the following locations: 

• 1993 Paris, France 
• 1997 Berkeley, California, USA 
• 2001 Rome, Italy 
• 2005 Queensland, Australia 
• 2009 Aalborg, Denmark 
• 2013 Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 
• 2016 Copenhagen, Denmark 
• 2019 Hiroshima, Japan
• 2021 Delft, The Netherlands (Oct. 18-20, 2021)
  
  

This year, we will bridge MEWE delegates from Delft, The Netherlands for the 9th Microbial Ecology & Water Engineering Specialist Conference: "Microbial Ecology Data & Principles for Water Systems and Industries" – IWA MEWE 2021.We wish you an excellent conference.

The IWA MEWE Specialist Group

The International Water Association (IWA) is the leading network and global knowledge hub for all water professionals and anyone committed to the future of water. With its legacy of over seventy years, it connects water professionals in more than 130 countries to find solutions to global water challenges as part of a broader sustainability agenda. IWA also promotes and supports technological innovation and best practices through international frameworks and standards. MEWE webpage: https://iwa-connect.org/group/microbial-ecology-and-water-engineering