ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

What is Science?
It is a systematized body of knowledge derived from and tested by recognition and formulation of a
problem collection of data through observation, and experimentation.
What is Natural Science?
It is the study of nature and the physical world includes such diverse disciplines as biology, chemistry,
geology, physics and environmental science.
What is Environmental Science?
It is an organized body of knowledge about environmental relationships.
What is Environmental Engineering?

Is manifest by sound engineering thought and practice in the solution of problems of

environmental sanitation, notably in the provision of safe, and ample public water supplies; the
proper disposal of or recycle of wastewater and solid wastes; the adequate drainage of urban and
rural areas for proper sanitation; and the control of water, soil, and atmospheric pollution, and the
social and environmental impact of these solutions.

Is the application of science and engineering principles to improve the natural environment (air,
water, and/or land resources), to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation (house
or home) and for other organisms, and to remediate polluted sites. It involves waste water
management and air pollution control, recycling, waste disposal, radiation protection, industrial
hygiene, environmental sustainability, and public health issues as well as a knowledge
of environmental engineering law. It also includes studies on the environmental impact of
proposed construction projects.

Development of Environmental Engineering

Ancient Harappan civilization

Utilized early sewers in some cities.

Romans
Constructed aqueducts to prevent drought and to create a clean, healthful water supply
for the metropolis of Rome.

Bavaria (15

th

century)

Created laws restricting the development and degradation of alpine country that
constituted the region's water supply.

Middle third of the 20th century

Constructed aqueducts to prevent drought and to create a clean, healthful water supply
for the metropolis of Rome.

Mid-19th century

Modern environmental engineering began in London when Joseph Bazalgette designed

the first major sewerage system that reduced the incidence of waterborne diseases such
as cholera.

Present

The introduction of drinking water treatment and sewage treatment in industrialized

countries reduced waterborne diseases from leading causes of death to rarities.

Historical Perspective
Certainly, the Inca cultivation of crops and the mathematics of the Maya and Sumerians qualify as
early applications of natural science. Likewise the Egyptian prediction and regulation of the
annual floods of the Nile demonstrate that environmental engineering works are as old as
civilization.
It began to blossom in the 18th century. The foundation of environmental engineering as a
discipline may be considered to coincide with the formation of the various societies of civil
engineering in t mid-1800s.
The name changed in the late 1960s and early 1970s to reflect the broadening scope that
included not only efforts to purify water but also air pollution, solid waste management and the
many other aspects of environmental protection that are include in the environmental engineers
current job
The first instances and well into the 20th century, environmental engineering was known as
sanitary engineering because of its roots in water purification.
How Environmental Engineers and Environmental Scientists work together?
There is an old saying that Scientists discover things and engineers make them work.
In many instances the tasks and tools of environmental scientists and environmental engineers are the
same.
For Example:
Storm Water from city streets was carrying metal and organic contaminants from the street into a river
and polluting it. Although a treatment plant could have been built, a wet land mitigation system was
selected to solve the problem. The slope of the channel through the wet land was designed by the
environmental engineers. The provision of limestone along the channel bed to naturalize the pH and
remove metals was determined by the joint work of the environmental scientists and engineers. The
selection of the plant material for the wet land was the job of the environmental scientist.
Scope of Environmental Engineering

Solid waste management

Environmental impact assessment and mitigation

Water supply and treatment

Wastewater conveyance and treatment

Air quality management

Toxic and Hazardous Waste Management

Ecological/Environmental Science

Solid Waste Management

It refers to all activities pertaining to the control, transfer and transport, processing and disposal of SW in
accordance with the best principles of public health, economics, engineering, conversion, aesthetics and
other environmental considerations. Its source includes all attendant administration, legal, financial,
planning, and engineering functions.
Environmental Impact Assessment and Mitigation
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
refers to the process of predicting the likely environmental consequences of implementing
project or program activities.
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System
refers to the entire process of organization, administration and procedure institutionalized for
the purpose of assessing the significance of the effects of physical developments on the quality of the
environment.

In this division, engineers and scientists use a systemic identification and evaluation process to
assess the potential impacts of a proposed project, plans, programs, policies, or legislative
actions upon the physical-chemical, biological, cultural, and socioeconomic components on
environmental conditions.

They apply scientific and engineering principles to evaluate if there are likely to be any adverse
impacts
to
water
quality,
air
quality, habitat quality, flora and fauna,
agricultural
capacity, traffic impacts, social impacts, ecological impacts, noise impacts, visual (landscape)
impacts, etc. If impacts are expected, they then develop mitigation measures to limit or prevent
such impacts.
Example of Mitigation Measure:
Creation of wetlands in a nearby location to mitigate the filling in of wetlands necessary for a
road development if it is not possible to reroute the road

Water Supply and Treatment

Engineers and scientists work to secure water supplies for potable and agricultural use. They evaluate
the water balance within a watershed and determine the available water supply, the water needed for
various needs in that watershed, the seasonal cycles of water movement through the watershed and they
develop systems to store, treat, and convey water for various uses. Water is treated to achieve water
quality objectives for the end uses.

In the case of potable water supply, water is treated to minimize the risk of infectious
disease transmission, the risk of non-infectious illness, and to create a palatable water flavor.
Water distribution systems are designed and built to provide adequate water pressure and flow rates to
meet various end-user needs such as domestic use, fire suppression, and irrigation.
Wastewater Conveyance and Treatment
Engineers and scientists develop collection and treatment systems to carry this waste material away from
where people live and produce the waste and discharge it into the environment. In developed countries,
substantial resources are applied to the treatment and detoxification of this waste before it is discharged
into a river, lake, or ocean system. Developing nations are striving to obtain the resources to develop
such systems so that they can improve water quality in their surface waters and reduce the risk of waterborne infectious disease.
Air Quality Management
Engineers apply scientific and engineering principles to the design of manufacturing
and combustion processes to reduce air pollutant emissions to acceptable levels. Scrubbers, electrostatic
precipitators, catalytic converters, and various other processes are utilized to remove particulate
matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, volatile organic compounds(VOC), reactive organic gases (ROG)
and other air pollutants from flue gases and other sources prior to allowing their emission to the
atmosphere.
Scientists have developed air pollution dispersion models to evaluate the concentration of a pollutant at a
receptor or the impact on overall air quality from vehicle exhausts and industrial flue gas stack emissions.
To some extent, this field overlaps the desire to decrease carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gas emissions from combustion processes.
Air Pollution Control
This is needed for control and management of emissions from fixed sources, like smokestacks from
industrial plants and power plants, and from movable sources, primarily automobiles.