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1.introduction To Environmental Engineering

This document provides an introduction to environmental engineering. It defines key terms like environment, ecology, ecosystem, and environmental engineering. It discusses major types of pollution like air, water, and land pollution. Air pollution issues covered include air quality problems, sources of air pollutants like vehicle exhaust and smokestacks, and greenhouse gases. Land pollution problems addressed include destruction of natural resources and pollution from mining, pesticides, and landfills. The document also examines surface water and groundwater pollution. Overall, the summary introduces concepts relevant to environmental engineering and pollution issues across air, water, and land.

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Christopher Méndez
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© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
31 views

1.introduction To Environmental Engineering

This document provides an introduction to environmental engineering. It defines key terms like environment, ecology, ecosystem, and environmental engineering. It discusses major types of pollution like air, water, and land pollution. Air pollution issues covered include air quality problems, sources of air pollutants like vehicle exhaust and smokestacks, and greenhouse gases. Land pollution problems addressed include destruction of natural resources and pollution from mining, pesticides, and landfills. The document also examines surface water and groundwater pollution. Overall, the summary introduces concepts relevant to environmental engineering and pollution issues across air, water, and land.

Uploaded by

Christopher Méndez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING – IND890

Introduction to Environmental Engineering


Daniel Martich, MEE
ENVIRONMENT
WHAT IS ENVIRONMENT?

Environment is the aggregate of


physical, chemical, biological and
social components capable of
causing direct or indirect effects, in
the short or long term, on living
beings and human activities.

(from the United Nations Conference on Environment held in held in


Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972)

4
WHAT IS ENVIRONMENT?

─ These images belong to the environment. The forest surrounding the lake, and
even the lake, the landscape of mountains covered by snow, the strength,
sometimes destructive, of the volcano and, of course the flamingos flying over a
lake 4000 m high would be accepted as environment.
5
WHAT IS ENVIRONMENT?

─ On the contrary, these images would not be considered environment: a large


megacities (México City), with its large pollution cloud, an industrial factory emitting
tons of greenhouse gases, any of the infinite garbage dumps surrounding our cities
or a forests destroyed by acidic rain in northern Europe.
6
ECOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEM

• Ecology is the scientific study of the distributions, abundance and


relations of organisms and their interactions with the environment.

• Ecology is not synonymous with environment, environmentalism, or


environmental science. Ecology is closely related to the disciplines of
physiology, evolution, genetics and behavior.

• An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the


nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and
mineral soil), interacting as a system.

7
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERINIG

• Definition
– It is the application of science and engineering principles to minimize
the adverse effects of human activity on the environment.

• ¿What is an engineer?
– Problem solver: Specifically, one who uses science to solve real
world problems.

• ¿What about an environmental engineer?


– Solves environmental problems using scientific tools.

8
POLLUTION
WHAT IS POLLUTION

─ From the UN 1972 Conference, Principle 6:

─ “The discharge of toxic substances or of other substances and the


release of heat, in such quantities or concentrations as to exceed
the capacity of the environment to render them harmless, must be
halted in order to ensure that serious or irreversible damage is not
inflicted upon ecosystems….”
POLLUTION CLASSIFICATION

─ Pollution can be classified following different criteria:

─ a) According the medium in which it occurs: air (or atmospheric)


pollution, water, and soil pollution.

─ b) Depending on who/what produced pollution (the source).


Anthropic pollution refers to pollution caused by man, while natural
pollution refers to pollution that has occurred naturally (a non
anthropic source).
POLLUTION CLASSIFICATION

─ c) Depending on the location of the source: emissions can be due


to mobile or stationary sources (point source). Other types are
nonpoint sources.
─ Point source pollution comes from a definite source:
Factories
Refineries
Municipal Facility

─ Non-Point Source Pollution


─ Pollution that does not come from a single point or location
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

• Three areas:

– air quality
– land quality
– water quality

13
WHY IS AIR QUALITY SUCH A PROBLEM?

Poor air quality can lead to:

─ smog
─ respiratory & other illnesses
─ acid rain
─ global warming

14
FROM WHERE DO AIR POLLUTANTS COME?

Smoke stacks Car exhaust pipe Air pollution in China

15
AIR QUALITY

• Air pollutant: A known


substance in the air that can
cause harm to humans and
the environment.

Effects of acid rain on plants


– nitrogen oxides (NOx)
– sulfur oxides (SOx)
– carbon monoxide (CO)
– carbon dioxide (CO2)

16
GREENHOUSE GASES & GLOBAL WARMING

• Global warming: An increase in the average air temperature of the


Earth.
• Greenhouse effect: Heat from the sun gets trapped inside the glass of a
greenhouse and heats up its air.
• More carbon dioxide (CO2) being released in the atmosphere traps more
heat.

17
HOW DO WE REDUCE AIR POLLUTANTS?

• Carpool.
• Hybrid cars.
• Government regulation.
• Geologic carbon
sequestration
• Alternative fuels.
• Walk, bike or use public
transportation.
18
LAND QUALITY

• Land pollution: Destruction of the Earth’s surface caused by


human activities and the misuse of natural resources.

• Natural resources: Land and raw materials that exist naturally


in the environment undisturbed by humans.

• Renewable resource: A natural resource that can be replaced by


a natural process.

• Non-renewable resource: A natural resource that cannot be


produced or re-grown or reused.
19
LAND QUALITY

Renewable Resources Non-renewable resources

20
WHAT PROBLEMS ARISE FROM LAND POLLUTION?

Acid mine drainage Pesticides and herbicides Landfills

21
HOW DO WE REDUCE LAND POLLUTION?

─ Buy bio-degradable items, which are made from natural resources


that break down over time and do not cause any environmental
damage or release any greenhouse gases.

─ An easy way to do this is to always choose paper over plastic


grocery bags, or better yet—reuse an old bag many, many times.

22
HOW DO WE REDUCE LAND POLLUTION?

─ Buy organic foods instead of processed foods because they are


better for you and our environment! People are considering taxing
processed foods as a disincentive to their use, and to obtain some
funding to restore the environmental damage they cause.

─ Always recycle so that non-biodegradable items, such as plastic,


do not add to landfills or pollute the land and oceans of our planet.

23
WATER QUALITY

─ Water pollution is any physical, biological,


or chemical change in water quality that
adversely affects living organism or makes
water unsuitable for desired uses can be
considered pollution.

24
WATER QUALITY

─ There are natural sources such of water


contamination, such us poison springs, oil
seeps, and sedimentation from erosion.
And human-made changes that affect
water quality and usability.

25
SURFACE WATER POLLUTION

26
GROUNDWATER POLLUTION

27
THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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