The International Water Mist Association (IWMA), founded in 1998, promotes water mist technology for firefighting through research, conferences, and industry collaboration
Contact Details:
Poststraße 33 (im Hamburg Business Center)
D-20354 Hamburg
tel. + 49 (0) 174 301 3878
The International Water Mist Association (IWMA) was founded on 15th April 1998. Back then, the organisation had no office, no employees and did not initiate any events. However, there was a target which was to bundle what was happening on an international level, to collect and spread knowledge and to communicate matters of common interest.
Then in 2001, after some time of casual exchange of thoughts and ideas, IWMA held its first International Water Mist Conference which has become an annual event. Its aim was to introduce the technology as well as the organisation to the world of firefighting. It has been held in London, Paris, Prague, Copenhagen and Istanbul etc. In 2025, the only event solely dedicated to the water mist technology will be held in Manchester, UK, on 24th and 25th September.
The technology itself was invented more than a hundred years ago by F.E. Myers. But it was only after the adoption of the Montreal Protocol in the late 1980s and a devastating fire on a passenger ferry in 1990 that water mist as a means of fire protection took off. The two events paved the way and made clear that there was a need for alternatives in firefighting. And thus, water mist as a fire extinguishing agent was re-discovered which called for the establishment of an organisation.
Today, IWMA still is the only association dedicated exclusively to water mist firefighting. IWMA is based in Hamburg, Germany. From its office, close to the famous Jungfernstieg, it supports the continued development, research and applications engineering of generic water mist systems. IWMA president is Are Wendelborg Brandt of RISE Norway. Chairman of the scientific council is Max Lakkonen of IFAB. Head of the office and general manager is Bettina McDowell, who has been working for the organisation since 2012.
Members of IWMA are, amongst others, manufacturers, distributors, insurance companies, scientific institutes etc. from countries like the USA, Egypt, but also from European countries like the UK, Denmark and Italy.
Since 1998 IWMA and its members are committed to the technology and its further development. They have seized opportunities, amongst those was a research project sponsored and organised by the IWMA on “Scaling of Fire Suppression Characteristics in Machinery Spaces” carried out on behalf of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Nowadays IWMA holds a consultative status at the IMO.
Members of the three IWMA committees (the Board of Directors, the Scientific Council and the Marketing Group) act as representatives for the organisation in a number of expert and working groups as well as technical committees such as the CEN TC 191 / WG 10, NFPA 750 and 25, VdS 3188, IMO (International Maritime Organization) and EMSA (European Maritime Safety Agency of the European Commission).
IWMA donate the annual “Ragnar Wighus Award” for the author of the best master or Ph.D. thesis.
