Contents
1.
Introduction
1.2 History
1.3 News & Achievement
1.4 Companies Of Environment Engineering
1.5 University of E&R
1.2 History
1.3 News & Achievement
1.4 Companies Of Environment Engineering
1.5 University of E&R
2.
Ecosystem
2.1
Nutrient
Cycle
2.2
Energy
Flow
2.3
Ecosystem
Services
3.
Environment Risk
3.1
Hazards
3.2
Environment
Hazard
3.3
Environment
Risk
4.
Water Pollution
4.1
Main
Pollutants
4.2
Waste water
Treatment
5.
Solid Waste Management
5.1
Waste
properties
5.2
Solid
Waste System
6.
Air Pollution
6.1
Composition
of Air
6.2
Transport
of Air
6.3
Air
pollutants
6.4
Emission
Estimation and Control
7.
Noise Pollution
7.1
Sources
of Noise
7.2
Physical
Properties of Noise
7.3
Health
Effect
8.
Water Supply
8.1
Water
Demand
8.2
Water
Availability
8.3
Water
Treatment
Introduction
Environmental engineering is the integration of sciences and engineering principles to improve the natural environment, to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to clean up pollution sites. Environmental engineering can also be described as a branch of applied science and technology that addresses the issue of energy preservation, production asset and control of waste from human and animal activities. Furthermore, it is concerned with finding plausible solutions in the field of public health, such as waterborne diseases, implementing laws which promote adequate sanitation in urban, rural and recreational areas. 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.
Environmental
engineers study the effect of technological advances on the environment. To do
so, they conduct studies on hazardous-waste management to evaluate the significance of such
hazards, advise on treatment and containment, and develop regulations to
prevent mishaps. Environmental engineers also designmunicipal water supply and industrial
wastewater treatment systems
as well as address local and worldwide environmental issues such as the
effects of acid rain, global warming, ozone depletion, water pollution and
air pollution from automobile
exhausts and industrial sources.
At many
universities, environmental engineering programs follow either the department
of civil engineering or the department of chemical
engineering at engineering faculties. Environmental "civil" engineers
focus on hydrology, water resources management, bioremediation, and water
treatment plant design. Environmental "chemical" engineers, on the
other hand, focus on environmental chemistry, advanced air and water treatment
technologies and separation processes.
Additionally,
engineers are more frequently obtaining specialized training in law and are
utilizing their technical expertise in the practices of environmental
engineering law.
The History Of ........
In early Egyptian Civilizations excavations have been found, showing arrangements were made for the collection of rainfall as well as the use of copper pipe for the disposal of sewage. This dates from 3400-2450 B.C. Irrigation was also widely used later during the new Egyptian Empire 1580-1200 B.C.The Knossian or the Minoan civilization was located in the Aegean Sea on the Isle of Crete and flourished between 1850-1400 B.C. This island is now a part of Greece. Excavations have revealed evidence of devices for sanitation, ventilation, drainage and latrines. The Queen even had a bathtub.
The History Of ........
Everything seems new if you are ignorant of history" . With that as a preamble I would like to discuss with you our profession, the fields of sanitation and public health; the roots of today's field of Environmental Engineering. Our profession has had a long history and has long been associated with the medical fields. I want to share with you today how our profession developed and also the many contributions by the faculty and alumni of Washington University.
Early History
In early Egyptian Civilizations excavations have been found, showing arrangements were made for the collection of rainfall as well as the use of copper pipe for the disposal of sewage. This dates from 3400-2450 B.C. Irrigation was also widely used later during the new Egyptian Empire 1580-1200 B.C.The Knossian or the Minoan civilization was located in the Aegean Sea on the Isle of Crete and flourished between 1850-1400 B.C. This island is now a part of Greece. Excavations have revealed evidence of devices for sanitation, ventilation, drainage and latrines. The Queen even had a bathtub.
In early Greek history, there are many instances of sanitation and medicine being used. Temples located near springs and woodlands hills were used as Sanatoria and health resorts. These can be seen today at Epidauros on the Peloponese peninsular in southern Greece. Today this still remains a beautiful place and has one of the world's finest acoustical (non-electric) theatres still in use seating 14,000 persons.
For protection, the Greek populace lived near fortified heights. These fortresses are referred to as Acropolises, and located throughout the Greek Empire. The most famous is the Acropolis in Athens, where the Parthenon is located. All of these areas required protected water supplies so that people could survive during long periods of siege. Water and waste disposal were thus a significant aspect in choosing proper location.
The Dark Age
With the fall of the Roman Empire around 400 AD, began the Dark Ages (2). Instead of water being boiled to make water pure it was "the age of Mysticism" where witches were boiled in water. Consequently, filth, pestilence, and plague came back and continued until the 18th century.
Age of Enlightenment
Sir Francis Bacon, an English philosopher began writing a reorganization of all human knowledge including an "inductive method of modern experimental science." In 1627, a year after his death, his last book was published Sylva Sylarum or a "Natural History in Ten Centuries." This compendium of knowledge described the thousand experiments that he had recorded, ten of which pertained to the treatment of water, including percolation or filtration, boiling, distillation and clarification by coagulation. He also dispelled a popular belief of the Romans that sea water could be desalinated by moving water through soil. Bacon proved that a well, placed near the sea would get natural ground water from a high elevation rather than from the sea and that is why the water found in such wells were fresh water.
Environmental Improvements in the United States
In the United States in the early 1800s it can be said that hydraulic engineering was environmental engineering. As early communities grew they needed more water. Each area was different where a good quality and abundant supply of water could be found. For an example, the City of New York in 1832 retained Colonel De Witt Clinton, an Army Engineer and son of a former New York Governor, to develop the Water Resources Plan for the City. His plan was to dam the Croton River and water would be delivered to the City by a 40-mile aqueduct. By 1842, the City was receiving up to 95 million gallons per day of good quality water.
THE NEWS OF ENVIRONMENT
2015 March 27: Antarctic Floating Ice Shelves, Glacial ‘Doorstops’, Melting Rapidly
Rainfall and rising lake levels near Dallas, Texas have caused officials to consider easing of water restrictions, and China‘s new environmental law has hit a couple of state-run refineries with fines. Antarctic ice shelves are melting rapidly, and farmers in India will soon be able to access satellite crop data via their cell phones. A wasteful-of-water welfare scam is spreading across Maine.
Melting ice in Greenland has hindered normal circulation of the Atlantic that brings heat north from the tropics. California residents don’t think their neighbors are doing enough to conserve water, and many citizens of Ireland may refuse to pay their water bills. Flooding has killed four and interrupted copper mining in northern Chile, and cholera will continue to hurt Haiti until the necessary water supply and sanitation improvements are made.
2015 March 20: $1 Billion in Emergency Funding for California Drought Announced
The United Nations has unveiled a report that demonstrates how lack of water access disproportionately affects women. California Governor Jerry Brown and top lawmakers have unveiled $US 1 billion in emergency drought spending. Kenya has started a national fund to improve water access, with government agencies, NGOs and businesses all participating. Finally, fighting in eastern Ukraine is taking its toll on drinking water supplies.
March 17: Many Health Centers Worldwide Lack Clean Water, Report Says
A report from global health organizations highlights the lack of safe water and sanitation at health centers. Rivers in a Vietnam province are down 80 percent due to drought, whileCalifornia considers stricter water conservation measures today. Alberta, Canadaintroduced stricter regulations to protect water from oil sands development, and scientists found that groundwater plays an important role in nutrient transfer in the Mediterranean Sea. Wet wipes are a growing problem in Australia’s wastewater treatment systems.
March 10: Global Drought Responses Hurt by Lack of Coordination
A United Nations official says better drought management and response requires better coordination between government agencies. Taiwan released plans for measures to combat its drought, while wine growers and miners contend with a severe drought in Chile. A new study suggests temperatures in the northern hemisphere could begin to rise quickly. Microbes in groundwater could be essential to cleaning up arsenic contamination, researchers in Oregon found.
The Achievements
Water Supply & Distribution
Today, a simple turn of the tap provides clean water - a
precious resource. Engineering advances in managing this
resource - with water treatment, supply, and distribution
systems - changed life profoundly in the 20th century, virtually
eliminating waterborne diseases in developed nations, and
providing clean and abundant water for communities, farms,
and industries.
Health Technologies
Advances in 20th century medical technology have been
astounding. Armed with only a few instruments in 1900, medical
professionals now have an arsenal of diagnostic and treatment
equipment at their disposal. Artificial organs, replacement
joints, imaging technologies, and biomaterials are but a few of
the engineered products that improve the quality of life for
millions.
Air Conditioning & Refrigeration
Air conditioning and refrigeration changed life immensely in the
20th century. Dozens of engineering innovations made it
possible to transport and store fresh foods, and to adapt the
environment to human needs. Once luxuries, air conditioning
and refrigeration are now common necessities which greatly
enhance our quality of life.
Household Application
Household appliances dramatically changed the 20th century
lifestyle by eliminating much of the labor of everyday tasks.
Engineering innovation produced a wide variety of devices,
including electric ranges, vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, and
dryers. These and other products give us more free time,
enable more people to work outside the home, and contribute
significantly to our economy.
High Performance Of Materials
From the building blocks of iron and steel to the latest advances
in polymers, ceramics, and composites, the 20th century has
seen a revolution in materials. Engineers have tailored and
enhanced material properties for uses in thousands of
applications. In aircraft, medical devices, computers, and other
products, high-performance materials have a great impact on
our quality of life.
The Top 5 Companies In Environment Firms
1. CH2M Hill Ltd., Englewood, Colo.
CH2M Hill is an American engineering company that provides consulting, design, construction, and operations services for corporations, and federal, state, and local governments. The firm's headquarters is in Meridian, an unincorporated area of Douglas County, Colorado in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area. The postal designation of nearby Englewood is commonly listed as the company's location in corporate filings and local news accounts. As of December 2013 CH2M Hill had approximately 26,000 employees and 2013 revenues totaled $5.88 billion. The firm is employee-owned, with an internal stock market that operates buy/sell events quarterly.
2. URS Corp., New York, N.Y.
URS is a leading provider of engineering, construction, and technical services for public agencies and private sector companies around the world. The Company offers a full range of program management; planning, design and engineering; systems engineering and technical assistance; construction and construction management; operations and maintenance; management and operations; information technology; and decommissioning and closure services. URS provides services for federal, oil and gas, infrastructure, power, and industrial projects and programs.
3. Veolia North America, Chicago, Ill.2
Veolia Water North America, headquartered
in Chicago, Ill., is the top private water
services contractor in the United States.
With $546 million in revenue from
166 government clients, it dominated
the country’s water outsourcing market
in 2009.3
Despite the company’s predominance,
its track record includes
privatization failures in communities
large and small. After several of its
largest contracts — including Indianapolis,
New Orleans and Puerto
Rico — ran into serious snags,
Veolia was forced to reconsider
its strategy for turning water
provision into a private,
profit-making venture.
4. Bechtel Corp., San Francisco, Calif.
Bechtel Corporation (Bechtel Group) is the largest construction and civil engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 4th-largest privately owned company in the United States. Its headquarters are in the South of Market, San Francisco. Operating activities such as civil infrastructure, mining, metals, oil, gas, chemical and power.
5.Tetra Tech Inc., Pasadena, Calif.
Tetra Tech provides mission- and safety-critical expertise to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Air Traffic Organization, enterprise architecture support to NextGen, and IT support services, including business, process re-engineering, identity management, information security, and enterprise software development for FAA operations. In the aviation sector, Tetra Tech is a world leader in performance-based navigation (PBN) and navigation systems support, with credentials grounded in 27 years of support to the United States’ aerospace safety, scientific, homeland security, and national defense communities. Our experts provide a proactive, systematic approach to managing ground-based navigation aids, lighting systems, satellite navigation, PBN, aviation safety, and environmental management systems.
University Of E&R
1. University of California--Berkeley
The College of Engineering at University of California--Berkeley has an application deadline of February 10. The application fee is $90 for U.S. residents and $110 for international students. Its tuition is full-time: $11,220 per year (in-state) and full-time: $26,322 per year (out-of-state). The 2014 Ph.D. student-faculty ratio is 5.6:1. The College of Engineering at University of California--Berkeley has 252 full-time faculty on staff.
Graduate students at the UC-Berkeley College of Engineering can complete an advanced degree in eight areas, including Industrial Engineering & Operations Research and Applied Science & Technology.
Earning a master’s in engineering typically takes two years at Berkeley, but students can also opt for the accelerated Berkeley Engineering Professional Master’s Program, which graduates students in just one year. All graduate students must also complete two minors, which can include fields outside of the College of Engineering.
The College of Engineering has about 40 research centers and institutes where students can get involved. Graduate students can live on campus. For a break from school work, students can explore nearby San Francisco or take a quick trip to local beaches. To travel in and around San Francisco, students can take the Bay Area Rapid Transit, which stops a block from campus.
Environmental engineers find ways to keep nature less polluted, while environmental health engineers try to halt harmful environmental effects on human health. These are the top graduate schools for environmental / environmental health engineering. Each school's score reflects its average rating on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding), based on a survey of academics at peer institutions.
2. Stanford University
The application fee is $125 for U.S. residents and $125 for international students. Its tuition is full-time: $47,073 per year. The 2014 Ph.D. student-faculty ratio is 7.1:1. The School of Engineering at Stanford University has 241 full-time faculty on staff.
Attending graduate school at Stanford puts engineering students on a diverse campus near Silicon Valley. There are about 65 centers and labs across campus where students can get involved in research projects, and the many companies in Silicon Valley offer internship and learning opportunities for graduate students. About 3,300 graduate students are enrolled at the School of Engineering, more than 20 percent of whom are women.
Graduate degrees are offered in 10 areas, including Materials Science and Engineering and Aeronautics and Astronautics. Engineering students with broad interests can enroll in cross-school programs, like the Stanford Design Program, offered in conjunction with the School of Humanities and Sciences, or can get involved in campuswide initiatives like Bio-X, which draws from the multiple disciplines for research in the biology and medical fields.
Graduate students can live on campus, and, for trips abroad, can partake in the China Internship Program. The school puts on several programs specifically for graduate students throughout the year, including the Graduate Women’s Welcome and a student picnic each fall.
3. University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign
The College of Engineering at University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign has a rolling application deadline. The application fee is $50 for U.S. residents and $75 for international students. Its tuition is full-time: $17,126 per year (in-state); full-time: $30,848 per year (out-of-state); part-time: $11,418 per year (in-state); and part-time: $20,566 per year (out-of-state). The 2014 Ph.D. student-faculty ratio is 4.2:1. The College of Engineering at University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign has 413 full-time faculty on staff.
Furthering its mission as a land-grant institution, the University of Illinois stresses research as a foundation of graduate engineering programs. There are more than 50 research centers and institutes, and the school has spent close to $200 million on research.
Students can pursue advanced degrees in more than 10 areas, including Financial Engineering and Nuclear, Plasma, & Radiological Engineering. The school’s biological and agricultural engineering programs are particularly highly ranked. Distance students can earn a master’s degree in engineering or computer science online, and some audit and professional courses are offered online as well.
There are about 2,700 graduate students at the College of Engineering, close to 20 percent of whom are women. The campus Technology Entrepreneur Center helps students become innovators and entrepreneurs, and a $30,000 prize is awarded annually to a student who has been most innovative with technology. Graduate students can live on the Urbana-Champaign campus. After graduation, the school’s Engineering Career Services Office aids students in their job searches.
4. Georgia Institute of Technology
The College of Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology has a rolling application deadline. The application fee is $75 for U.S. residents and $75 for international students. Its tuition is full-time: $12,344 per year (in-state); full-time: $27,600 per year (out-of-state); part-time: $515 per credit (in-state); and part-time: $1,150 per credit (out-of-state). The 2014 Ph.D. student-faculty ratio is 4.2:1. The College of Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology has 535 full-time faculty on staff.
Students at the Georgia Tech College of Engineering have extensive degree options. There are close to 20 areas to specialize in, from medical physics to aerospace engineering. Among many well regarded programs at the Tech Engineering, the industrial engineering and biomedical engineering programs are especially highly ranked.
Students can complete a master’s or a doctorate degree, and a handful of the master’s degree offerings include dual programs with universities abroad. The Dual Program in Electrical and Computer Engineering, for example, sends students to a partner school, like France’s Institut d’Electronique de Microelectronique et de Nanotechnologies, Germany’s TU-Munich, or the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. There are also several dual degree options through China’s Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Italy’s Politecnico di Torino.
Back in Atlanta, graduate students can live on campus. Students and faculty are often highly involved in research projects, and students can complete co-ops and volunteer work in nearby Atlanta and beyond. More than 65 percent of all Georgia Tech students graduate from the College of Engineering, and notable alumni include Maj. General Chuck Swannack (ret.), president and chief executive officer of U.S. Logisitics, Inc., and Nagesh Kukumoor, an environmental consultant-turned-Bollywood director, actor, producer, and writer.
5. University of Michigan--Ann Arbor
The College of Engineering at University of Michigan--Ann Arbor has a rolling application deadline. The application fee is $65 for U.S. residents and $75 for international students. Its tuition is full-time: $22,868 per year (in-state); full-time: $43,024 per year (out-of-state); part-time: $1,231 per credit (in-state); and part-time: $2,350 per credit (out-of-state). The 2014 Ph.D. student-faculty ratio is 4.3:1. The College of Engineering at University of Michigan--Ann Arbor has 358 full-time faculty on staff.
The University of Michigan College of Engineering has curriculums for master’s, doctoral, and interdisciplinary programs, and classes emphasize project-based learning. Prospective graduate students can get a feel for the College at the annual Engineering Graduate Symposium, held each November. For current graduate students, it’s a chance to present research projects, find faculty advisers, and hear from featured speakers.
Outside of class, engineering students can bond and relax at schoolwide events like the CoE Bowling Challenge and periodic luncheons. Each academic program coordinates its own student activities as well. Graduate students can get additional support through the Just ASK program, which stands for Alumni Sharing Knowledge. College alumni can volunteer to mentor current students, either in person or through mail, E-mail, or phone calls.
Graduate students can live in a designated residence area on the university campus, also home to faculty members, staff, and families. Space ranges from efficiency and economy units to three-bedroom apartments. The university is located in Ann Arbor, Mich., a bustling college town full of shopping, dining, and nightlife options.
2. Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants, animals
and microbes) in conjunction with the nonliving
components of their environment
(things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system. These biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked together
through nutrient cycles and energy flows. As ecosystems are defined
by the network of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their
environment, they can be of any
size but usually encompass specific, limited spaces (although some scientists say that the
entire planet is an ecosystem).
Energy,
water, nitrogen and soil minerals are other essential abiotic components of an
ecosystem. The energy that flows through ecosystems is obtained primarily from
the sun. It generally enters the system through photosynthesis, a process that also
captures carbon from the atmosphere. By feeding on
plants and on one another, animals play an important role in the movement
of matter and energy through the system. They also influence the quantity of
plant and microbial
biomasspresent. By breaking down dead organic matter, decomposers release carbon back to the atmosphere
and facilitate nutrient cycling by converting nutrients stored in dead
biomass back to a form that can be readily used by plants and other microbes.
2.1 Nutrient Cycle
A nutrient
cycle (or ecological recycling) is the movement and
exchange of organic and inorganic
matter back into the production of living matter. The
process is regulated by food web pathways that decompose matter into mineral nutrients. Nutrient cycles occur within ecosystems.
Ecosystems are interconnected systems where matter and energy flows and is
exchanged as organisms feed, digest, and migrate about. Minerals and nutrients
accumulate in varied densities and uneven configurations across the planet.
Ecosystems
recycle locally, converting mineral nutrients into the
production ofbiomass, and on a larger scale they participate in a global system
of inputs and outputs where matter is exchanged and transported through a
larger system of biogeochemical
cycles.
2.2 Energy Flow
In ecology, energy flow, also called the calorific flow, refers to the flow of energy through a food
chain. In an ecosystem, ecologists seek to quantify the relative importance of different component species and feeding relationships. The energy is passed on from trophic level to trophic level and each time about 90% of the energy is
lost, with some being lost as heat into the environment (an effect of respiration) and some being lost as incompletely digested food.
Therefore, primary consumers get about 10% of the energy produced by
autotrophs, while secondary consumers get 1% and tertiary consumers get 0.1%.
This means the top consumer of a food
chain receives the least energy, as a lot of the food chain's
energy has been lost between trophic levels. This loss of energy at each level
limits typical food chains to only four to six links.
2.3 Ecosystem Services
Humankind benefits in a multitude of ways
from ecosystems. Collectively, these benefits are known as ecosystem
services. Ecosystem services are regularly involved in the provisioning of
clean drinking
water and the decomposition of wastes. While scientists and environmentalists have discussed ecosystem services implicitly for
decades, the ecosystem services concept itself was popularized by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) in the early 2000s.[1] This grouped ecosystem services into four broad
categories: provisioning, such as the production of food and
water; regulating, such as the control of climate and
disease; supporting, such as nutrient cycles and crop pollination; and cultural, such as spiritual and
recreational benefits. To help inform decision-makers, many ecosystem services
are being assigned economic values.
3. Environment Risk
The
word 'risk' has two distinct meanings. It can mean in one context a hazard or a
danger, that is, an exposure to mischance or peril. In the other context, risk
is interpreted more narrowly to mean the probability or chance of suffering an
adverse consequence, or of encountering some loss. Thus 'flood risk' can refer
to the presence of a danger of flooding - a flood hazard, or more narrowly, a
specific probability such as a 0.01 probability flood event (a lOa-year flood).
Because the word 'risk' can be used in these different ways the term has led to
some confusion. Three distinct views which emerged in the Tihany Workshop are
recorded here because they reflect the present divergent state of informed
scientific opinion.
3.1 Hazard
A hazard is a situation that
poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or environment. Most hazards are dormant or potential, with only a
theoretical risk of harm; however, once a hazard becomes
"active", it can create an emergency situation. A hazardous situation that has come to pass
is called an incident. Hazard and possibility interact
together to create risk.
3.2 Environment
Hazard
One
school of thought sees risk as more or less synonymous with hazard; that is, an
event or act which holds adverse consequences. In this view the degree of risk
is related both to its probability and to the magnitude of its consequences.
3.3 Environment
Risk As Probability
Another
school of thought would like to retain the word risk to apply solely to
probabilistic statements. This school defines 'environmental risk' as the
probability value of an undesirable event and its consequences that arise from
a spontaneous natural origin or from a human action (physical or
administrative) that is transmitted through the environment. According to this
view the difference between 'impact assessment' and 'risk assessment' is that
impact assessments are concerned with events that are reasonably certain to occur,
while risk assessment is concerned with events that may possibly occur. Upon
closer inspection the difference between 'certain' and 'probabilistic' events
appears not in the nature of the events themselves but in the human
understanding and description of the processes involved.
4. Water
Pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater). This form of environmental degradation occurs when pollutants are directly or indirectly discharged
into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds. Water
pollution affects the entire biosphere – plants and organisms living in
these bodies of water. In almost all cases the effect is
damaging not only to
individual species and population, but also to the natural biological
communities.
4.1 Main Pollutants
Perhaps the overriding theme of these definitions is the
ability of the environment toabsorb and adapt to changes brought about by human activities. In
one word, environmental pollution takes place when the environment cannot process and neutralize harmful
by-products of human activities (for example, poisonous gas emissions) in due course without any structural or functional
damage to its system. In fact, “the due course” itself may last many years during which the nature will attempt
to decompose the pollutants; in one of the worst cases – that of radioactive
pollutants – it may take as long as thousands of years for the decomposition of
such pollutants to be completed. Pollution occurs, on the one hand, because the
natural environment does not know how to decompose theunnaturally
generated elements (i.e., anthropogenic pollutants), and, on the other, there
is a lack of knowledge on the part of humans on how to decompose these
pollutants artificially.
Why does pollution matter?
It matters first and foremost because it has negative impacts on crucial environmental services such as provision of clean air and
clean water (and many others) without which life on Earth as we know it would
not exist.
4.2 Waste Water Treatment
Wastewater
treatment broadly describes water
treatment preparing water no longer needed or suitable for its most
recent use for return to the water
cycle with minimal environmental issues. Wastewater treatment is distinguished from
water treatment by focus on disposal rather than use. Water
reclamation implies avoidance of
disposal by use of wastewater as a raw water supply. Treatment means removing
impurities from water being treated; and some methods of treatment are
applicable to both water and wastewater. Production of waste brine, however,
may discourage wastewater treatment removing dissolved inorganic solids from
water by methods like ion
exchange, reverse
osmosis, and distillation.
5. Solid Waste Management
Waste
management is the "generation,
prevention, characterization, monitoring, treatment, handling, reuse and
residual disposition of solid wastes".[1] There are various types of solid waste
including municipal (residential, institutional, commercial), agricultural, and
special (health care, household hazardous wastes, sewage sludge).[1] The term usually relates to materials
produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce
their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics.
5.1 Waste Properties
Solid
waste management option depend on physical and chemical characteristic of the
waste. Waste generation rates are expressed in mass unit (kg / m3
) instead of volume unit. This is
because waste densities vary greatly among the wastes with different compaction
with different stages in waste system ( collection, storage and disposal ). The
moisture content of solid waste is
Moisture
content = mass of moisture / total mass of waste
and
the dry mass weight can be found as
dry
mass = total mass waste ( 1 – moisture content )
5.2 Solid Waste System
5.2.1 Landfill
Disposal of waste in a landfill
involves burying the waste and this remains a common practice in most
countries. Landfills were often established in abandoned or unused quarries, mining voids or borrow pits. A
properly designed and well-managed landfill can be a hygienic and relatively
inexpensive method of disposing of waste materials. Older, poorly designed or
poorly managed landfills and open dumps can
create a number of adverse environmental impacts such as wind-blown litter, attraction of vermin, and generation of liquid leachate.
Another common product of landfills is gas (mostly composed of methane and carbon dioxide),
which is produced from anaerobic breakdown
of organic waste.
This gas can create odor problems, kill surface vegetation and is a greenhouse gas.
Design characteristics of a modern landfill include methods to
contain leachate such as clay or plastic lining material. Deposited waste is
normally compacted to increase its density and stability and covered to prevent
attracting vermin (such
as mice or rats). Many landfills also have landfill gas
extraction systems installed to extract the landfill
gas. Gas is pumped out of
the landfill using perforated pipes and flared off or burnt in a gas
engine to
generate electricity.
5.2.2 Recycling
Recycling is a resource
recovery practice that
refers to the collection and reuse of waste materials such as empty beverage
containers. The materials from which the items are made can be reprocessed into
new products. Material for recycling may be collected separately from general
waste using dedicated bins and collection vehicles, a procedure called kerbside collection. In some communities, the owner of the waste is required to
separate the materials into various different bins (e.g. for paper, plastics,
metals) prior to its collection. In other communities, all recyclable materials
are placed in a single bin for collection, and the sorting is handled later at
a central facility. The latter method is known as "single-stream recycling
The most common consumer products recycled include aluminium such as beverage cans, copper such as wire, steel from food and aerosol cans, old steel
furnishings or equipment, polyethylene and PET bottles, glassbottles and jars, paperboard cartons, newspapers, magazines and light paper, and corrugated fiberboardboxes.
PVC, LDPE, PP, and PS (see resin identification code) are also recyclable. These items are usually
composed of a single type of material, making them relatively easy to recycle
into new products. The recycling of complex products (such as computers and
electronic equipment) is more difficult, due to the additional dismantling and
separation required.
The type of material accepted for recycling varies by city and
country. Each city and country has different recycling programs in place that
can handle the various types of recyclable materials. However, certain variation
in acceptance is reflected in the resale value of the material once it is
reprocessed.
5.2.3 Sustainability
The management of
waste is a key component in a business' ability to maintaining ISO14001 accreditation. Companies are encouraged
to improve their environmental efficiencies each year by eliminating waste
through resource recovery practices, which are
sustainability-related activities. One way to do this is by shifting away from
waste management to resource recovery practices like recycling materials such as glass, food scraps,
paper and cardboard, plastic bottles and metal.
6.
Air Pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of particulates, biological
molecules, or other harmful
materials into the Earth's atmosphere, causing disease, death to humans, damage to other living
organisms such as food crops, or the natural or built
environment. Air pollution may
come from anthropogenic or natural sources.
The atmosphere is a complex natural gaseous system that is
essential to support life on planet Earth. Stratospheric ozone
depletion due to air
pollution has been recognized as a threat to human health as well as to the
Earth's ecosystems.
Indoor air pollution and urban air quality are listed as two of
the world's worst toxic pollution problems in the 2008Blacksmith Institute World's Worst Polluted Places report. According to
the 2014 WHO report, air pollution in 2012 caused the
deaths of around 7 million people worldwide.
6.1 Composition of Air
Air is mainly composed of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon, which together constitute the major gases of the
atmosphere. Water vapor accounts for roughly 0.25% of the atmosphere by mass.
The concentration of water vapor (a greenhouse gas) varies significantly from
around 10 ppmv in the coldest portions of the atmosphere to as much as
5% by volume in hot, humid air masses, and concentrations of other atmospheric
gases are typically provided for dry air without any water vapor.[4] The remaining gases are often referred to as trace
gases,[5] among which are the greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and
ozone. Filtered air includes trace amounts of many other chemical compounds. Many substances of natural origin may be present in locally
and seasonally variable small amounts as aerosols in an unfiltered air sample, including dust of mineral and organic composition, pollen and spores, sea
spray, and volcanic ash. Various industrial pollutants also may be present as gases or aerosols, such as chlorine (elemental or in compounds), fluorine compounds and elemental mercury vapor. Sulfur compounds such as hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide (SO2) may be derived from natural sources or
from industrial air
pollution.
6.2 Transport of Air
Movement
of air is caused by temperature or pressure differences and is eperienced as wind. Where there are differences of pressure
between two places, a pressure gradient exists, across which air moves: from
the high-pressure region to the low-pressure region. This movement of air
however, does not follow the quickest straight-line path. In fact, the air
moving from high to low pressure follows a spiralling route, outwards from high
pressure and inwards towards low pressure. This is due to the rotation of the
Earth beneath the moving air, which causes an apparent deflection of the wind
to the right in the Northern Hemisphere, and to the left in the Southern
Hemisphere. The deflection of air is caused by the Coriolis force.
Consequently, air blows anticlockwise around a low-pressure centre (depression) and clockwise around a high-pressure centre
(anticyclone) in the Northern Hemisphere. This situation
is reversed in the Southern Hemisphere.
Wind caused by differences in temperature is known as convection or advection. In the atmosphere,
convection and advection transfer heat energy from warmer regions to colder
regions, either at the Earth surface or higher up in the atmosphere.
Small-scale air movement of this nature is observed during the formation
of sea and land
breezes, due to temperature
differences between seawater and land. At a much larger scale, temperature
differences across the Earth generate the development of the major wind belts.
Such wind belts, to some degree, define the climate zones of the world.
Air temperature is generally higher at ground level due
to heating by the Sun, and decreases with increasing altitude. This vertical
temperature difference creates a significant uplift of air, since warmer air nearer the surface is
lighter than colder air above it. This vertical uplift of air can
generate clouds and rain. Sometimes air from warmer regions of the
world collides with air from colder regions. This air mass convergence occurs
in the mid-latitudes, where the warm air is forced to rise above the colder
air, generating fronts and depression.
6.3 Air Pollutants
An air pollutant is a
substance in the air that can have adverse effects on humans and the ecosystem.
The substance can be solid particles, liquid droplets, or gases. A pollutant
can be of natural origin or man-made. Pollutants are classified as primary or
secondary. Primary pollutants are usually produced from a process, such as ash
from a volcanic eruption. Other examples include carbon monoxide gas from motor vehicle exhaust, or the sulfur dioxide released from factories. Secondary pollutants are not
emitted directly. Rather, they form in the air when primary pollutants react or
interact. Ground
level ozoneis a prominent example of a secondary
pollutant. Some pollutants may be both primary and secondary: they are both
emitted directly and formed from other primary pollutants.
Major primary pollutants produced by human activity include:
·
Sulfur
oxides (SOx)
- particularly sulfur dioxide, a chemical compound with the formula SO2.
SO2 is produced by volcanoes and in various industrial
processes. Coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, and their combustion
generates sulfur dioxide. Further oxidation of SO2, usually in the
presence of a catalyst such as NO2, forms H2SO4,
and thus acid rain. This is one of the causes for concern over the environmental
impact of the use of these fuels as power sources.
·
Nitrogen
oxides (NOx)
- Nitrogen oxides, particularly nitrogen
dioxide, are expelled from
high temperature combustion, and are also produced during thunderstorms by electric discharge. They can be seen as a brown haze dome above or a plume downwind
of cities. Nitrogen dioxide is a chemical compound with the formula NO2.
It is one of several nitrogen oxides. One of the most prominent air pollutants,
this reddish-brown toxic gas has a characteristic sharp, biting odor.
·
Carbon
monoxide (CO) - CO is a
colorless, odorless, toxic yet non-irritating gas. It is a product byincomplete combustion of fuel such as natural gas, coal or wood. Vehicular
exhaust is a major source of carbon monoxide.
6.4 Emission Estimation and Control
Air pollutant emission factors are representative values that
people attempt to relate the quantity of a pollutant released to the ambient
air with an activity associated with the release of that pollutant. These
factors are usually expressed as the weight of pollutant divided by a unit
weight, volume, distance, or duration of the activity emitting the pollutant
(e.g., kilograms of particulate emitted per tonne of coal burned). Such factors facilitate
estimation of emissions from various sources of air pollution. In most cases,
these factors are simply averages of all available data of acceptable quality,
and are generally assumed to be representative of long-term averages.
There are 12 compounds in the list of POPs. Dioxins and furans are two of them and
intentionally created by combustion of organics, like open burning of plastics.
The POPs are also endocrine disruptors and can mutate the human genes.
7. Noise Pollution
Noise
pollution or noise disturbance is the disturbing or
excessive noise that
may harm the activity or balance of human or animal life. The source of most
outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machine sand transportation systems, motor vehicles, aircraft,
and trains. Outdoor
noise is summarized by the word environmental noise.
Poor urban planning may
give rise to noise pollution, since side-by-side industrial and residential
buildings can result in noise pollution in the residential areas.
Indoor noise can be caused by machines, building activities, and
music performances, especially in some workplaces. Noise-induced hearing loss can be caused by outside (e.g. trains)
or inside (e.g. music) noise.
High noise levels can contribute to cardiovascular effects in
humans, a rise in blood pressure, and an increase in stress and
vasoconstriction, and an increased incidence of coronary artery disease. In
animals, noise can increase the risk of death by altering predator or prey
detection and avoidance, interfere with reproduction and navigation, and
contribute to permanent hearing loss.
7.1 Soruces of Noise
Broadly
speaking, the noise pollution has two sources, i.e. industrial and non-
industrial. The industrial source includes the noise from various industries
and big machines working at a very high speed and high noise intensity. Non-
industrial source of noise includes the noise created by transport/vehicular
traffic and the neighbourhood noise generated by various noise pollution can also
be divided in the categories, namely, natural and manmade. Most leading noise
sources will fall into the following categories: roads traffic, aircraft,
railroads, construction, industry, noise in buildings, and consumer products.
7.1.1 Road Traffic Noise
In
the city, the main sources of traffic noise are the motors and exhaust system
of autos , smaller trucks, buses, and motorcycles. This type of noise can be
augmented by narrow streets and tall buildings, which produce a canyon in which
traffic noise reverberates.
7.1.2 Construction
Noise
The
noise from the construction of highways, city streets, and buildings is a major
contributor to the urban scene . Construction noise sources include pneumatic
hammers, air compressors, bulldozers, loaders, dump trucks (and their back-up
signals), and pavement breakers.
7.1.3 Industry Noise
Although
industrial noise is one of the less prevalent community noise problems,
neighbours of noisy manufacturing plants can be disturbed by sources such as
fans, motors, and compressors mounted on the outside of buildings Interior
noise can also be transmitted to the community through open windows and doors,
and even through building walls. These interior noise sources have significant
impacts on industrial workers, among whom noise- induced hearing loss is
unfortunately common
7.2 Physical
Properties of Noise
Frequency:
The period of a sound is the duration of one cycle of its motion.
Its frequency is the number of cycles that occur within a second.
Frequency is measured in Hertz (abbreviated Hz). The period and frequency
of a sound are reciprocally related (i.e., period = 1/frequency).
The phase of a
sound is the instantaneous amplitude at a given point in time. The entire cycle
of a sound wave is divided into 360 equal parts called degrees. Phase is
thus a measure of time with respect to frequency or period.
Human beings can
perceive frequencies from about 20 Hz up to about 18,000 Hz (18 KHz), the limit
varying with the individual (aging causes loss of high frequency detection).
Intensity:
Sound intensity is a measurement of the amount of power of a sound at
a given location. It is measured in decibels (abbreviated dB), which
is a measurement of the ratio between the power of a given sound and a
reference sound. The formula for calculating the intensity of a sound I is:
I
= 10 log (I/I0)
7.3 Health Effect
Noise pollution effects both health and behavior. Unwanted sound
(noise) can damage psychological health. Noise pollution can cause hypertension, high stress levels, tinnitus, hearing loss, sleep disturbances, and other
harmful effects.
Sound becomes unwanted when it either interferes with normal
activities such as sleeping, conversation, or disrupts or diminishes one’s
quality of life.
Chronic exposure to noise may cause noise-induced hearing loss. Older males exposed to significant occupational
noise demonstrate
more significantly reduced hearing sensitivity than their
non-exposed peers, though differences in hearing sensitivity decrease with time
and the two groups are indistinguishable by age 79. A comparison of Maaban tribesmen, who were insignificantly exposed to
transportation or industrial noise, to a typical U.S. population showed that
chronic exposure to moderately high levels of environmental noise contributes
to hearing loss.
High noise levels can contribute to cardiovascular effects and exposure to moderately high
levels during a single eight-hour period causes a statistical rise in blood
pressure of five to ten
points and an increase in stress, and vasoconstriction leading to the increased
blood pressure noted above, as
well as to increased incidence of coronary artery disease.
Noise pollution also is a cause of annoyance. A 2005 study by
Spanish researchers found that in urban areas households are willing to pay
approximately four Euros per
decibel per year for noise reduction.
8. Water Supply
Water
supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by
individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Irrigation is covered separately.
8.1 Water Demand
Water resources are sources of water that are useful or potentially useful.
Uses of water includeagricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities. The majority of human uses require fresh
water.
97 percent of the water on the Earth is salt water and only
three percent is fresh water; slightly over two thirds of this is frozen in glaciers and polar ice
caps.[1] The remaining unfrozen freshwater is
found mainly as groundwater, with only a small fraction present above ground or
in the air.
Fresh water is a renewable resource, yet the world's supply of groundwater is steadily decreasing, with depletion
occurring most prominently in Asia and North America, although it is still
unclear how much natural renewal balances this usage, and whether ecosystems are threatened. The framework for
allocating water resources to water users (where such a framework exists) is
known as water rights.
8.2 Water Availability
As water supplies are
stressed by growing populations, the impacts of climate change and greater
competition of resources, the need to leverage innovative technologies and
alternative water supplies continues to grow. The challenge for many is
matching the quality of water with its intended use.
Many water systems use treated wastewater for irrigation or industrial uses where water does not need to be of drinking water quality. Some water systems treat wastewater to drinking water standards and store it underground before withdrawing it as a source of drinking water.
Many water systems use treated wastewater for irrigation or industrial uses where water does not need to be of drinking water quality. Some water systems treat wastewater to drinking water standards and store it underground before withdrawing it as a source of drinking water.
This page provides information and resources about approaches
that water systems can use to address current and anticipated variability of
source water quality and quantity.
8.3 Water Treatment
The first documented use of sand
filters to purify the
water supply dates to 1804, when the owner of a bleachery in Paisley,
Scotland, John Gibb, installed
an experimental filter, selling his unwanted surplus to the public. The first
treated public water supply in the world was installed by engineer James Simpson for the Chelsea Waterworks Company in London in 1829. The practice of
water treatment soon became mainstream, and the virtues of the system were made
starkly apparent after the investigations of the physician John Snow during the1854 Broad Street
cholera outbreak demonstrated the
role of the water supply in spreading the cholera epidemic.
The Metropolis Water Act introduced regulation of the water
supply companies in London,
including minimum standards of water quality for the first time. The Act
"made provision for securing the supply to the Metropolis of pure and
wholesome water", and required that all water be "effectually
filtered" from 31 December 1855. This legislation set a worldwide
precedent for similar state public health interventions across Europe.
Permanent water chlorination began in 1905, when a faulty slow
sand filter and a
contaminated water supply led to a serious typhoid fever epidemic in Lincoln,
England. Dr. Alexander
Cruickshank Houston used chlorination of the water to stem the epidemic. His
installation fed a concentrated solution of chloride of lime to the water being
treated. The first continuous use of chlorine in the United
States for disinfection
took place in 1908 at Boonton Reservoir (on the Rockaway
River), which served as the
supply for Jersey City, New Jersey. Desalination appeared during the late 20th century, and is still
limited to a few areas.
This is the example for Environmental Engineering -
