Water Quality and Management

Ecological engineering approaches for treating contaminated water using natural processes to improve water quality. Emphasis on combining basic science and engineering approaches to understand the fundamental processes that govern the effectiveness of complex natural treatment systems. Applications include constructed wetlands, waste stabilization ponds, stormwater bioretention, decentralized wastewater management, ecological sanitation. Laboratory sessions will consist of design and monitoring of laboratory and full-scale natural treatment systems, including a range of water quality measurements

Quantitative overview of the properties of environmental contaminants and the transport and transformation processes that govern their concentrations in air and water. Fundamental topics include environmental chemical equilibria and kinetics, reactor models, and elementary transport phenomena. Selected applications to issues in water quality engineering, air quality engineering, and hazardous waste management.

Design emphasis in hydrology and hydraulics. Students will choose three design projects from a range of water resource and environmental topics including water theme parks, ornamental fountains, hydroelectric generation facilities, water supply systems, flash flood warning systems, stream and wetland restoration, and control of pollutants in urban stormwater runoffs.

Course addresses principles and practical aspects of hydrology. Topics in introduction to hydrology include hydrologic cycle, precipitation, evaporation, infiltration, snow and snowmelt, and streamflow; introduction to geomorphology, GIS (Geographic Information Systems) applications, theory of unit hydrograph, frequency analysis, flood routing through reservoirs and rivers; introduction to rainfall-runoff analyses, watershed modeling, urban hydrology, and introduction to groundwater hydrology

Analysis of steady and unsteady open-channel flow and application to rivers and streams. Examination of mixing and transport in rivers and streams. Effects of channel complexity. Floodplain dynamics and flow routing. Interaction of vegetation and fluid flows. Freshwater and tidal marshes. Sediment transport in rivers, streams, and wetlands. Implications for freshwater ecosystem function.

This seminar will focus on one or several related issues in society that have a significant bearing on chemistry. Particular topics will differ from course section to course section and from year to year. Representative examples: atmospheric ozone, nuclear waste, solar energy, water, agrichemicals. Students will search information sources, invite expert specialists to speak, prepare oral and written reports.