Introduction to Environmental Engineering

CEIE 455/555
Fall 2003
Course Objectives:
(1) develop basic preliminary environmental engineering
plans and designs.
(2) analyze the impacts of human development (industrial,
commercial and residential) on air, land and water
resources.
(3) relate environmental engineering practices to
environmental laws and regulations.
What is Environmental Engineering?
...the application of science and engineering principles to
minimize the adverse effects of human activity on the
environment.
Bill T. Ray, 1995
...the application of engineering principles, under
constraint, to the protection and enhancement of the
quality of the environment and to the enhancement and
protection of public health and welfare.
Arcadio Sincero, 1996
CEIE 455/555 - Class1

What will this course cover?

Environmental problems associated with air, water, and
land systems (including the physical and biotic habitat)
More specifically:
Water and wastewater treatment
Solid and hazardous waste disposal
Air pollution management

CEIE 455/555 - Class1

Chapter 1
Nature and Scope of Environmental Problems
What is pollution?
...undesirable change in the physical, chemical, or
biological characteristics of the air, water, or land that can
harmfully affect the health, survival, or activities of
humans or other living organisms.
Henry and Heinke, 1996
One thing to remember:
The matter that comprises environmental pollutants must
follow the laws of physics. It can never be destroyed - it
just changes form.
Example:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Sludge from a WWTP - water waste (only 4% solids)

Treated by incineration
Air pollution control devices are used to capture the
particulates, metals and other by-products of the
combustion process
Scrubbers - generate wastewater
Bag houses - generate solid waste

CEIE 455/555 - Class1

Interaction of Systems
Most environmental problems relate to air, water and land
systems
Not confined to one system
Example: acid rain
1.

Emission of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen gases into the

atmosphere from power generation facilities,
automobiles, etc.

2.

Moisture in the atmosphere causes the gases to mix

with water and become weak acids of sulfur (sulfuric
acid) and nitrogen (nitric acid)

3.

Rainfall distributes the acids which are harmful to

aquatic life, forests, and crops

Systems Interaction
Migratory nature of pollutants makes the management and
solution more challenging
National, continental or global view of environmental
effects

CEIE 455/555 - Class1

Environmental Disturbances
Many environmental disturbances are attributable to the
application of science and technology to improve our way
of life
Examples
Discuss how the following affect air, water or land
systems?
Are they of regional, continental, or global significance?
Technological advances in:
Agriculture
Housing
Transportation
Communication
Power generation
Human health and safety
Recreational

CEIE 455/555 - Class1

Environmental engineering dates to ancient times

Sewers of ancient cities - Crete and Assyria
Roman sewers - designed as storm sewers but used as
sanitary sewers because of the disposal of human and other
wastes into the street
As early as AD 61 - "heavy air of Rome" noted in early
writings
1273, King Edward I - prohibited the burning of sea coal
because of smoke and fog mixtures
Ancient municipal technology forgotten during the
construction of many European cities
Nineteenth century - Industrial revolution - increased
industrialization and urbanization - relationship between
improper waste disposal and disease was established

Figure 1-1, p 5 McGhee

CEIE 455/555 - Class1

Following WWII - economic boom fueled by increases in

population, advanced technology and rise in energy
consumption
1950s to 1960s - significant increases in the quantity of
wastes discharged to the environment
Pesticide and insecticide use increased dramatically without
sufficient testing on the environmental effects
Public Awareness and Action
1960s - Increased social awareness in the environment and
related problems
Rachel Carson - Silent Spring (1962)
G. Hardin - Tragedy of the Commons (1968)
In most Western world countries - environmental
legislation was introduced between the late 1960s and the
late 1970s
EPA - created in 1970
End of pipe solutions emphasized for the past 20 years technology to control pollution
Emphasis now on waste
minimization/elimination/prevention
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World summits on environmental topics

1992 - U.N. Earth Summit on environment and
development in Rio de Janeiro - 182 countries and 102
heads of state
1994 U.N. Population and Development conference in
Cairo
Brought to light the divergent global views
U.S. - ozone depleting substances, global warming, acid
rain, radon, non-point source pollution
More than of the people in the third world (not including
China) do not have sanitary drinking water supplies or
wastewater treatment
$80 Million/day needed to provide world-wide sanitary
services
Compared with current expenditures of:
$250 Million/day on cigarettes
$1.4 Billion/day on arms

CEIE 455/555 - Class1

Changing Role of Environmental Engineering

Moving to:
Sustainable technology and preventive technology
Sustainable development is:
... development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs. Henry and Heinke, 1996
Sustainable development involves a change in attitude to
foster long-term protection of the environment
Change in orientation for engineers
From:

efficiency, productivity, profitability

To:

health and environmental impact

assessment, resource conservation, waste
management

CEIE 455/555 - Class1

Preventive Technology
Requires changes in technology - retooling, process
modifications, materials changes, reengineering
Must involve the life-cycle of the product (maintenance,
operation and disposal as well as production)
Preventive Technology Examples:
P2 conference
*

Take back law in Germany

Requires manufacturers to take back their

products from consumers after their useful
life is exceeded

3M - Pollution Prevention Pays Program

*

Product reformulation, process modification,

equipment redesign and recovery of waste
products for reuse

Total savings - $30 Million in 3 yrs

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Chapter 2
Population and Economic Growth
Population growth = pollution growth
Population growth is generally considered to be
exponential
P=P0ert
where:

P = future size of the

population at time t
P0 = current size of the population
t = number of years for the extrapolation
r = assumed constant rate for each of the t years
To calculate r:
The growth rate (r) is usually expressed as a fraction of the
increase in population per year
Growth rate is also defined by the following equation:
r=(b-d)+(i-e)
where:

b = birth rate
d = death rate
i = immigration rate
e = emigration rate

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Double time represents the length of time for the

population to double
Tdb =70/r

where:

Tdb = the doubling

time

r = the constant growth rate

Rapid growth the last 250 years (see figure 2-2, p17 in text)
Less developed (LDR) and more developed regions (MDR)
differ sharply in growth rate
Little net migration for both LDR and MDR (i-e=0)
MDR birth rate: .4 in 1800, .15 now
LDR birth rate: .4 in 1800, .25 now
MDR death rate: .35 in 1800, .10 now
LDR death rate: .35 in 1800, .10 now (took longer)
Historically high birth rates in LDR are no longer
offset by high death rates
75% of the worlds population lives in the less
developed regions

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Population Projections
Needed by an engineer to design facilities for a community,
region, or nation and to control future environmental
impacts
Length of time in the future for projections
Short term (up to 10 years)
Long term (up to 50 years)
Both depend on past records
Methods for estimation
Graphical methods
Extrapolation
Least squares regression
Mathematical methods
Assumes that population growth follows a
mathematical relationship
Component method
Develop a detailed projection based on mortality and
birth rates by age and gender
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Example 2.1 p. 27

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Example 2.1 p. 27

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Population growth equates to:

3300 housing units
20 miles of new roads
20 miles of sewers and water mains
Extensions to the WWTP and WTP
Extension to the hospital
New schools
New regional shopping center
New fire stations
New libraries

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Industrialization
Industrialization - normally associated with Industrial
Revolution
Very important: steam engine, thermodynamic conversion
of heat energy into kinetic energy
Measures of economic growth: Gross National Product
(GNP) and Gross Environmental Improvement (GEI)
GNP - sum of all personal and governmental expenditures
on goods and services within a country
GEI - component of the GNP that includes the costs of
environmental improvements, such as money spent on
reforestation or pollution control measures
GNP - does not reflect the countrys economic health and
well-being or the depletion of natural resources
High GNP may be related to natural resources depletion
and environmental degradation
Automotive industry - 10% of the GNP
*
Extensive waste from steel production
*
Electroplating
*
Toxic gases from gasoline engines
GNP often expressed on a per capita basis
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Steel production is an index of industrial development

*
*
*

15-25 pounds of electric furnace dust/ton of steel

produced
Highways, ships, bridges, and heavy machinery
Production increased from 0.5 million tons in 1870 to
780 million tons in 1988

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Effects of Technology
DDT use to control insects and increase agricultural
production lead to serious side effects on wildlife and
humans - ultimately banned
Concentration of livestock - greatly increased the pollution
from the agricultural industry (cryptosporidian)
Synthetic fertilizers - nitrogen and phosphorous, led to
eutrophication of lakes, blue baby syndrome due to nitrates
Production of synthetic organic chemicals (synthetic fibers,
pesticides, detergents, plastics, rubber, etc.) Chlorine is
used in these processes. Requires greater production of
mercury used in chlorine production. Synthetic organic
chemicals require high energy for production.
Increased automobile production and the shift from rail to
trucks
Packaging - tremendous impact on solid waste
Increased power needs - sulfur dioxide gases
Disposable diapers
Secondary wastewater treatment
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Urbanization and Environmental Impacts

Definition of urbanization - Many different definitions - at
what point does an area become urbanized
Sweden - less that 200 m between houses
India - density of not less than 1,000 persons/sq-km with
more than 3/4 are non-agricultural workers
Population of 20,000 is used as an indicator of urban in the
textbook
In the more developed regions (MDR) urbanized areas have
grown from 55-70 % of the total population
Rapid growth of urban population in the less developed
regions (LDR)
See figure 2-10, p. 38

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Country

Population
in 1950
(thousands)

Population
in 2000

Population by
2025 (estimate)

Fertility Rate
(1995-2000)

Average Daily Calories

(per capita kcals)
(1997)

% of daily
requirement
(2792 kcals) *

NORTH AMERICA
CANADA

13,737

31,147

37,896

1.6

3,119

111.7

UNITED STATES

157,813

278,357

325,573

2.0

3,669

131.4

CARRIBEAN
CUBA

5,850

11,201

11,798

2.8

2,480

88.8

DOMINCAN REP.
HAITI

2,353
3,261

8,495
8,222

11,164
11,988

2.8
4.4

2,288
1,869

81.9
66.9

JAMAICA
TRIN & TOBAGO

1,403
636

2,583
1,295

3,245
1,493

2.5
1.7

2,553
2,661

91.4
95.3

BELIZE

69

241

370

3.7

2,907

104.1

COSTA RICA
EL SALVADOR

862
1,951

4,023
6,276

5,929
9,062

2.8
3.2

2,649
2,562

94.9
91.9

GUATEMALA
HONDURAS

2,969
1,380

11,385
6,485

19,816
10,656

4.9
4.3

2,339
2,403

83.8
86.0

MEXICO
NICARAGUA
PANAMA

27,737
1,134
860

98,881
5,074
2,856

130,196
8,696
3,779

2.8
4.4
2.6

3,097
2,186
2,430

110.9
78.3
87.0

17,150

37,032

47,160

2.6

3,093

110.8

CENTRAL AMERICA

SOUTH AMERICA
ARGENTINA
BOLIVIA

2,714

8,329

13,131

2.6

2,174

77.9

BRAZIL

53,975

170,115

217,930

2.3

2,974

106.5

CHILE

6,082

15,211

19,548

2.4

2,796

100.1

COLOMBIA

12,568

42,321

59,758

2.8

2,597

93.0

ECUADOR

3,387

12,646

17,796

3.1

2,679

96.0

GUYANA
PARAGUAY

423
1,488

861
5,496

1,045
9,355

2.3
4.2

2,530
2,566

90.6
91.9

PERU

7,632

25,662

35,518

3.0

2,302

82.4

SURINAME

215

417

525

2.2

2,665

95.5

URUGUAY

2,239

3,337

3,907

2.4

2,816

100.9

VENEZUELA

5,094

24,170

34,775

3.0

2,321

83.1

Table 2 compiled using data from WRI 98-99, Tables AF.3 and HD.1 (see note 3)
* 2792 kcals represents the average of the recommended daily kcals of men (2944) and women (2640). Percentages indicate the
average per capita distribution based on available food supplies. Actual food distribution varies by gender, socio-economic status,
region and ethnicity.

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Environmental impacts
Alteration of the atmosphere - massive releases of carbon
dioxide
Due to:

Industry, Transportation, Heating of Buildings,

Sewage Treatment, Landfills, etc.

Alteration of the hydrosphere - large quantities of

wastewater generated
Also polluted stormwater and increased peaks
Leachate from landfills and leaking underground storage
tanks
Alteration of the lithosphere - landfills, destruction of
ecosystems (wetlands, deserts, plains, rivers, etc.)
Industrial effects
See table 2-8, p. 43

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