The ReFRESH Summit will bring water-sector leaders to Milwaukee on 13–14 October to examine AI, freshwater resilience, cross-sector collaboration and restoration, as utilities and businesses face mounting infrastructure, pollution and climate pressures.
Organised by The Water Council, ReFRESH: Resilience in Freshwater is a reworked version of the organisation’s annual thought-leadership summit.
The two-day event will take place at Discovery World on the shore of Lake Michigan and bring together representatives from utilities, technology companies, associations, environmental organisations and academia.
The programme will address artificial intelligence, circular water systems, environmental restoration, water-related financial risk and ways to improve collaboration across the sector.
ReFRESH Summit puts AI into real-world water context
Artificial intelligence will be one of the central technology themes at the ReFRESH Summit, with sessions examining how AI is moving from experimentation towards practical application in the water sector.
A case study involving Wilo, Microsoft and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Connected Systems Institute will explore the use of AI to simplify processes within the water industry.
A separate session, Artificial Intelligence X Real Water, will examine how utilities and businesses are applying AI, the safeguards required when deploying the technology and lessons emerging from early implementation.
The session will include Andy Bochman, Resilience Strategic Lead at West Yost, and Gigi Karmous-Edwards, President and CEO of Karmous Edwards Consulting.
Digitalisation and AI are increasingly being explored by utilities for applications ranging from treatment optimisation and asset management to predictive maintenance and operational decision-making.
Water associations to examine barriers to collaboration
The opening programme will bring together leaders from three major US water organisations to discuss persistent industry challenges and barriers to greater collaboration.
David LaFrance, CEO of the American Water Works Association; John Ikeda, Chief Mission Officer of the Water Environment Federation; and Pauli Undesser, CEO of the Water Quality Association, will take part in the opening discussion.
The session will consider how organisations across different parts of the water sector can work together more effectively as infrastructure ages and pressures around funding, workforce capacity, pollution and climate resilience increase.
The Water Council says the revised summit format is intended to bring public, private and academic decision-makers together around practical water challenges rather than operate as a conventional conference.
Milwaukee Estuary restoration enters the discussion
Freshwater restoration will also feature through a roundtable examining work in the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern.
The US Environmental Protection Agency identifies the Milwaukee Estuary as one of the US Great Lakes Areas of Concern, following decades of industrial activity that contributed to contaminated sediments and degraded habitats.
A major restoration programme is addressing contamination in Milwaukee Harbor and the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers, alongside habitat restoration and other measures intended to improve water quality.
The summit discussion will bring together Jennifer Bolger Breceda of Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Kevin Shafer of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and Karen Dettmer of Ramboll to examine collaboration around the project.
Circular water and financial risk feature on second day
The second day will broaden the agenda to include circular water systems and the financial implications of water-related risks.
A session on the circular water economy will explore approaches to reducing waste and recovering more value from water and wastewater systems.
Another discussion will examine how water-related threats are creating financial exposure for organisations and how water stewardship can form part of corporate risk management.
The agenda also includes wastewater treatment innovation, workforce development and case studies from water technology companies.
ReFRESH Summit scheduled for October in Milwaukee
The ReFRESH Summit will run from 13 to 14 October 2026 at Discovery World, 500 N. Harbor Drive, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Travis Loop, founder and host of waterloop, will moderate the event.
The full ReFRESH Summit agenda and speaker list is available from The Water Council.
For more coverage of emerging water technologies, visit H2O Global News’ Technology section, or explore our Freshwater coverage.
Source: The Water Council
