Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

I.) ASPECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT

 Environment
 defined as one’s surroundings
 For an engineer, may refer to a very localized area in which a specific problem must be addressed
 In the case of contained environment, refers to a small volume of liquid, gaseous or solid matter
 Components of the Environment
-where life-sustaining resources of the earth are contained
1) Atmosphere
2) Lithosphere
3) Hydrosphere

1) Atmosphere
 It is a layer of gases that surround a material body of sufficient mass
 The Earth is surrounded by a blanket of air which is called the Atmoshpere
 It reaches over 560 kilometers (348 miles) from the surface of the Earth
 The oxygen characteristics of our Atmosphere were almost all produced by plants
(cyanobacteria or blue green algae)
 The composition of air in the atmosphere:
 21% Oxygen
 78% Nitrogen
 1% Other gases ( Argon)
 Use of the Earth’s Atmosphere
-The Earth’s Atmosphere protects life on Earth by:
 Absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation
 Warming the surface of the Earth by Heat Retention (Greenhouse Effect)
 Reducing temperature extremes between night and day
 Layers of the Atmosphere
a) Troposphere
b) Stratosphere
c) Mesosphere
d) Ionosphere/Thermosphere

Figure 1: The Layers of the Atmosphere

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a) Troposphere
 It is composed of:
 90% air
 10% ozone
 It is a region of falling and rising packets of air
 The air pressure at the top of troposphere is only 10% of that at sea level (0.1
atmosphere)
 Tropopause – a thin buffer zone between troposphere and stratosphere
b) Stratosphere
 It is where air flow is horizontal
 Ozone Layer
-a layer that is primarily responsible for absorbing the ultraviolet radiation
-Only when Oxygen is produced in the atmosphere that an Ozone Layer is
formed
-Thus the presence of CFC’s (Chlorofluorocarbons) which consumes Oxygen
potentially aids in the depletion of the Ozone Layer
c) Mesosphere
 Above the stratosphere is the mesosphere
d) Ionosphere /Thermosphere
 Above the mesosphere is the Ionosphere or the thermosphere
 It is where atoms are ionized
 It is very thin but it is where Aurora takes place (the natural display of light)
 It is responsible for:
 Absorbing the most energetic photons of the Sun
 Reflecting radio waves, thereby making long distance radio
communication
2) Hydrosphere
 The liquid water component of the Earth
 The hydrosphere covers about 70% of the surface of the Earth
 It includes:
 Lakes, oceans, ponds, rivers, seas, and streams
 The hydrosphere is always in motion
 The motions are in the form of currents that move the warm waters in the tropics
towards the poles, the colder water towards the pole regions to the tropics
 These currents exists in the surface of the ocean and at great depths in the ocean
(up to about 4 km)
 Characteristics of Bodies of Water
 Temperature
-warm water is less dense or lighter
-thus, warm water stays on the surface and cold water tends to sink toward the
bottom
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 Salinity
-salty water is also more dense or heavier
-salty water tends to sink while fresh water or less salty water tends to rise
towards the surface
 Top 5 world’s largest ocean:
1) Pacific Ocean
2) Atlantic Ocean
3) Indian Ocean
4) Southern Ocean
5) Arctic Ocean
 Three main purposes of Ocean in the climate system:
 Serves as large reservoir of chemicals
 Absorbs 90% of solar radiation
 It works with the atmosphere to redistribute energy receive from the sun such as
the heat in the tropics (where a lot of energy is received from the sun) is
transferred towards the poles (where heat is generally lost in space)
 Top 5 largest lakes in the Philippines:
 Laguna de Bay –Laguna and Rizal
 Lanao Lake –Lanao del Sur
 Taal Lake -Batangas
 Lake Mainit – Surigao del Norte
 Naujan Lake –Oriental Mindoro
3) Lithosphere
 It is the soil mantle that wraps the Earth
 It is the outer part of the earth including crust and uppermost mantle
 It is about 100 km thick and its thickness is age depend
 Two types of Lithosphere:
 Oceanic Lithosphere
-associated with oceanic crust and exist in the ocean basins
 Continental Lithosphere
-associated with continental crust
 World’s Highest Peak:
 Mount Everest
 Located in Nepal
 It has an average height of 8850 meters
 World’s Second Highest Peak:
 K2 or Mount Godwin-Austen
 Located in N Kashmir on the China-Pakistan border
 Named after the English topographer, Henry Austen Godwin (1856)
 It has an average height of 8611 meters

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 Biosphere
 It is a thin shell that encapsulates the Earth which includes the Atmosphere, the Hydrosphere,
and the Lithosphere
 It contains materials which support life
 It is where materials are cycled
 Ecosphere
 Ecosphere is the set of all living organisms, including animals, vegetation, and humans
 They are temporary accumulators and sources of pollutants in a very complex set of relationship
with the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere.
 The environmental system may be understood in an ecological sense as the set of interactions between
the element of the biosphere

Figure 2: Diagram of the Environmental System

II.) ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

 It is a branch of engineering that is concerned with:
 Protecting the environment from the potentially deleterious effects of human activities
 Protecting human populations from the effect of adverse environmental factors
 Improving environmental quality for human health and well being
 Unique Role of an Environmental Engineer:
 To build a bridge between biology and technology by applying all the techniques
 Specific Role of an Environmental Engineer:
 Planning
 Evaluate
 Designing
 Operate
 Control treatment devices and plants
 Effect of Human Activities:
1) Physical – Global warming (CO2 from vehicles)
2) Sanitary – quality of water, waste water treatment, sanitation or cleanliness (solid waste
disposal)
3) Chemical – Industrial waste, water and air pollution

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 Environmental Science
 In its broadest sense, encompasses all fields of natural sciences
 Environmental Ethics
 Ethics
 It is a branch of philosophy with seeks to define fundamentally what is right and what is
wrong, regardless of cultural differences
 Set of rules and principles
 Morals
 Differ from ethics because morals reflect the predominant feelings of a cultural ethical
issues
 Environmental Attitudes and Ethics
 These are different attitudes about the environment
 Most of these attitudes would fall under the following:
a) Developmental Ethics
b) Preservation Ethics
c) Conservation Ethics

a. Developmental Ethics
 It assumes that human race should be the master of nature and that the earth and its
resources exist for the benefit and pleasure of human
 This is reinforced by the work ethics which dictates that humans should be busy
creating change and that bigger, better and faster things represent progress which is
good.
b. Preservation Ethics
 Considers nature special in itself
 Some preservationist have an almost religious belief regarding nature
 They hold reverence for life and respect the right of all creatures to live no matter what
the social and economic costs.
c. Conservation Ethics
 It recognizes the desirability of decent living standards but works towards a balance of
resource use and resource availability
 Environmental Ethics viewed at Different Perspective
1) Corporate Environmental Ethics
 Corporations are legal entities designed to operate at a profit which is not itself
harmful
 Corporations have no ethics but the people who make up the corporation are faced
with ethical decisions
 Ethics are involved when a corporation cuts corners in production quality or waste
disposal to maximize profit.
 Corporate social responsibility
 A corporation should be accountable to their actions and responsibilities
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2) Societal Environmental Ethics

 Society is composed of a great variety of people with different viewpoints
 This variety can be distilled into a set of aides that reflect the prevailing attitude of the
society which can be analyzed from an ethical view point
 Many societies have long acted as if the earth has unlimited reserves of natural
resources, an unlimited ability to assimilate wastes and a limitless ability to
accommodate unchecked growth.
 Mahatma Gandhi: “The earth provides enough to satisfy every person’s needs, but not
every person’s greed!”
3) Individual Environmental Ethics
 We as individuals have to recognize that each of us are responsible for the quality of the
environment we live in and that our personal actions affect environmental quality for
better or worse
 Our environmental ethics must be reflected in changes in the ways we all live our lives
 People in all walks of life will need to live by an environmental ethics
 Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University: “If we change, the world changes”
4) Global Environmental Ethics
 Industrialized countries contain only 23% of the world’s population and yet they control
80% of the world’s goods and are responsible for a majority of its pollution
 On the other hand, developing countries are hardest hit of overpopulation,
malnutrition, and diseases
 At the individual level, people have begun to respond to increase awareness of the
global environmental change by altering their values, beliefs and actions.
 By pooling our knowledge, coordinating our actions and sharing what the planet has to
offer, we may achieve a global environmental ethics.
 Conventions that address Environmental Issues:
 UNCED
 United Nations Convention on Environment and Development
 Problems related to environment and development
 State of Economy of the different Nations
 Agenda 21
 Contains probable solution to the some environmental problems
 Supposed to be that all the solution would be implemented before the 21st Century
 Philippine Agenda 21
-more focused on sustainable development
 Convention on Climate Change
 Corrective actions and come up with a protocol
 KYOTO PROTOCOL (Kyoto, Japan)
-decrease the emission of CO2
 Convention on the protection of the Ozone Layer
-Montreal Protocol
-eliminate the use of CFC’s
-phase out of Freon as refrigerants and air conditioners.

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III.) ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS

 Includes all laws pertaining to:

1) Management of natural resources
2) Discharge of materials into the environment
 Fulfills a catalytic function towards the sustainable management of natural resources
 Plays a critical role in promoting environmental protection through:
1) Sustainable use of natural resources
2) Pollution prevention
3) Integration of environment and development objectives
 Provides an important framework for regulating social behavior and transforming sustainable
development policies into enforceable norms of behavior
 Assist the government in adhering to international protocols and building natural capacities to address
global, regional, national and local environment issues and problems in the context of sustainable
development
 Early Environmental Laws
1) Spanish Law of Waters of 1866
 Implemented in the Philippines on 1871 by the Spanish government
 Governor- general has the right to suspend an industry when it is noxious to the public
like contamination of water source affecting public health
2) American Colonial Period
 RA 3915 of 1932
 Basic foundation for the creation of national parks
 Regulation of forest resources
 Types of Environmental Laws
A. Pollution Control Laws
B. Environmental Impact System Laws and Legislations
C. Management and Preservation of Natural Resources Laws
D. Other Environmental Laws related to your field

A. Pollution Control Laws

1) RA 3931
 An act to punish the dumping into any river or refuse wastewater of substances of any
kind whatsoever that may bring about the rise of filing in of riverbeds or cause artificial
alluvial formations
 Created the NWAPCC (National Water and Air Pollution Control Commission)
2) PD 1151
 Philippine Environmental Policy ( divides the general policies for better quality of life)
3) PD 1152
 Philippine Environmental Code ( defines the objective / strategies of the policy; how to
implement/ enforce the policy )
4) PD 825
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 Ecological solid waste management

 Renewed by RA 9003, providing penalty for improper waste disposal
5) PD 984
 Revised effluent standards
 Pollution control law ( water, land, air)
 Effective utilization of natural resources of country

6) PD 1181
 Prevention/ control/ abatement of air pollution from motor vehicles ( renewed by RA
8749)
7) PD 1160
 Law vesting authority to barangay captain enforcing pollution and environmental laws
8) DAO 34
 Ambient water quality criteria/ revised water usage and classification
9) DAO 35
 Revised effluent ( discharge from industries/ residential) regulations / standards
10) RA 6969
 Hazardous toxic substances (also includes, sludge disposal, radioactive substances,
nuclear and hazardous waste)
11) DAO 14 Series of 1993
 Revised air quality standards
12) RA 8749
 Clean air act 1999
 Integrated air quality from mobile and stationary substances
 DAO 47 – phase out leaded gasoline
13) PD 856
 Sanitation Code of the Philippines
 Sewage treatment/ disposal, cleanliness in public areas including hotels, restaurants,
markets, parks
14) RA 9003
 Ecological solid waste management act
 Segregation of waste (1997)
15) RA 9275
 Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004
16) RA 9211
 Tobacco Regulation Act (improper disposal of Cigarette Butts)

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B. Environmental Impact System Legislations

1) PD 1586
 EISS ( Environmental Impact Statement System) defines the framework for the
implementation of EIA
 Reconcile the objectives of the development projects and environmental concerns
2) DAO 80 series of 1991
 Defines the guidelines for the issuance of ECC
 Guidelines for the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses
3) DAO 21 series of 1992
 Amended for revised rules and regulations implementing PD 1586
4) DAO 11 series of 1994
 Supplements DAO 21 series of 1992, providing for programmatic environmental
procedures within the EIS.

C. Management and Preservation of Natural Resources

1) PD 705
 Amended Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines
2) PD 953 and PD 1153
 Laws penalizing illegal cutting of trees
3) PD 331
 Requires all public forests to be developed on a sustained yield basis
4) RA 8550
 Fisheries Code of the Philippines
 Policies or protection, conservation and effective management of fishing methods within
the Philippine Coastal Area
5) RA 9275
 Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004
 An act providing for a comprehensive water quality management
6) RA 9147
 Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 2001
 Wildlife Act
7) RA 7586
 National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992 (NIPAS)
8) RA 1219
 Coral Resources Development and Conservation Decree
9) RA 9168
 Philippine Plant Variety Protection Act of 2002

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D. Other Environmental Laws

 Mining
1. P.D. 463 – amended the Mining Act of 1936, requires all mining leaseholders to
comply with Pollution Control Laws and regulations and provide for penalties for
noncompliance.
2. P.D. 1198 – reinforces this provision for restoration of mined-out areas to this
original condition to the extent possible.
3. P.D. 1251 – imposes fines on tailings and mine wastes and the fund generated is
used to pay for the damages to land, agricultural crops, forests products,
aquatic resources and infrastructures caused by pollution for mining operations.
 Electrical and ECE
1. Article of 2; Section 4 of RA 9275:
-states the regulations on the use of water for power generation
-utilization of water for the use of electrical or mechanical power
2. Chapter 1; Section 6 of PD 1152: Philippine Environmental Code
-states the standards for noise producing equipment may it be electrical or
electronic, stationary or transportation equipment
 Civil
1. Philippine Regulations on Sanitation
 RA 386 : Civil Code of the Philippines
-drainage of buildings
 RA 1364 : Sanitary Engineering Law
-Sanitary Engineers and Wastewater Disposal Systems
 PD 1067:Philippine Water Code
-Wastewater and Drainage Provisions

 DAO 2000-02
-Chemical Control Order for asbestos
 DAO 97 -38
-Chemical Control order for cyanide and cyanide compounds
 RA 9729 – Climate Change Act of 2009
-An act mainstreaming climate change into government policy formulations, establishing the framework
strategy and program on climate change, creating for this purpose the climate change commission and
for other purposes
 RA 9367 – Biofuel Act of 2006
 A mandatory biofuels standard which requires a 5% ethanol blend for gasoline within
two years, increasing to 10% within 4 years under the approval of a new National
Biofuels Board.
 A 1% biodiesel blend for diesel is required within 3 months, to be increased to 2% within
2 years

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IV. ECOLOGY

 Environment
 The immediate surroundings of a thing or an individual
 Composed of biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living elements)
 Life supporting elements : land, water, air
 The environment thus includes the following:
1. Biophysical Environment
-animals as well as land and bodies of water and the air that surrounds us
-biotic and abiotic elements
2. Socio-Cultural Environment
-everything with which people interact
3. Politico- Economic Environment
-where people exchange good ideas
 Environmental Impacts
 These are effects generated by activities undertaken within certain environment
 These activities may be:
 FORMAL – various types of development projects
 INFORMAL – day to day chores of certain communities like household activities
 Chemical Reactions occurring in Living Things
1. PHOTOSYNTHESIS
 Production process
 Raw Materials: CO2, H2O, light
 Product: Sugar, O2
2. RESPIRATION
 Unleash energy from food
 Opposite of photosynthesis
 With the aid of enzymes and oxidants, the chemical bonds in the food breakdown
to give off energy
 With the flow of materials (cyclic) and energy (conservation towards heat), different ecosystem
must then be studied to correlate all of these
 ECOLOGY
 The study of the relationship of organisms and environment (includes plant, animals, microbes,
and people that live together) and how energy and materials behave in an ecosystem.
 Deals with the ways in which organisms are molded by their surroundings and how they make
use of their surroundings
 ECOSYSTEM
 Basic functional unit in ecology
 It includes organisms, populations and communities
 Definition of terms:

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1. POPULATION
 Group of organisms of the same species living within a particular area
2. COMMUNITY
 Population of different plants and animals living and interacting with each other
3. ORGANISM
 Any form of life including all plants and animals
4. HABITAT
 It is the place or type of place where an organism naturally live within a community
5. NICHE
 Obligatory role of an organism, functional role the organism has in its surroundings
 ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS (both Open and Cybernetic System)
1. OPEN SYSTEM
 Those that depend upon the outside environment to provide inputs and accept
output
2. CYBERNETIC
 Needs some sort of feedback mechanism to regulate themselves
3. HOMEOSTASIS
 Process by which an ecosystem remaining steady-state condition
 Fluctuations do occur within an ecosystem, but the overall effect its steady state
 Ecosystem processes exhibit feedback
 COMPONENTS OF BIOSPHERE
1. ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
 Referred to as the life support system
 Includes various physical and chemical factors
a) Organic substances ( carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, human substances)
b) Inorganic substances (included in material cycles like N, C, P, H2O, etc.)
c) Climate Regime (rainfall, temperature, humid)
d) Latitude (distance above sea level)
e) Nature of soil (for terrestrial ecosystem)
f) Fire (for terrestrial ecosystem
g) Amount of suspended solid material in aquatic ecosystem
 Major Chemical Factors Affecting Ecosystem
a) Level of water and air in soil
b) Level of plant nutrient in soil, water in terrestrial ecosystem and aquatic
ecosystems
c) Level of natural or artificial ( man –made) toxic substances dissolved in soil
water and in aquatic water (bioconcetration)
d) Salinity of water for aquatic ecosystem
e) Level of dissolved oxygen in aquatic ecosystem
Example: BOD-Biological Oxygen Demand

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2. BIOTIC COMPONENTS
 These are the major types of organisms that make up the living, classified as
producers, consumers and decomposers:
A. PRODUCERS
 Called AUTOTROPHS (self-feeders) are organisms that can manufacture
the organic compounds they use as sources of energy and nutrients
 Mostly green plants that make up the organic nutrients through
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
 Use sunlight as energy to CO2 with water in series reaction to make
carbohydrates, sugar such as glucose, starch and lipids
 O2 is given off as by-product
 The complex series reaction involved in photosynthesis can be
summarized as follows:

𝐸𝑛𝑧𝑦𝑚𝑒𝑠
CO2 + H2O 𝐿𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡+𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦
Glucose + O2

 Direct or indirect source of food for most organisms

 59% of the Earth’s photosynthesis takes on land and the remaining
41% in the oceans and other aquatic ecosystem
 The process of conversion of inorganic to organic by specialized
bacteria called CHEMOSYNTHESIS (in the absence of sunlight)
B. CONSUMERS
 HETEROTROPHS / other feeders
 Organisms that obtain the nutrients and energy they need by
feeding either directly on producers
 Classified as:
a) HERBIVORES – plant eaters /primary consumers
b) CARNIVORES – flesh eaters / secondary consumers
c) OMNIVORES – tertiary or higher level consumers
d) DETRITIVORES – feed on small fragments of dead plants
and animal matter
o DETRITUS FEEDERS
- Feed on fragments of dead organisms and their cast off parts (plants) and organic wastes
- Example: crabs, earthworms
o DECOMPOSERS
- Microscopic bacteria, fungi (digest dead tissues and absorb their nutrients)
C. DECOMPOSERS
 Digest dead tissue waste and absorb their soluble nutrients
o FUNGI - foremost decomposers
o BACTERIA – aerobic, anaerobic, facultative
 FUNCTIONS OF ECOSYSTEM
1. PRODUCTION
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 Responsible for the accumulation of organic structures in the ecosystem

 Free energy is fixed from same energy sources by phototrophs
 The by-product of respiration ( CO2 + H2O ) are the raw materials:

𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕
CO2 +H2O 𝒆𝒏𝒛𝒚𝒎𝒆
CH2O + O2

 Dominant in the uppermost layer ( canopy of forest, euphoric zone of aquatic habitats)
 Build up organic substances / structures using materials from non-living environment
2. CONSUMPTION
 This aids in the build-up of organic structures in the body of the consumer
 Acts as regulators (balances production and decomposition)
 Digestion of the ingested food material
3. DECOMPOSITION
 Deals with the degradation of organic structures

 ENERGY FLOW IN THE ECOSYSTEM

 Energy can be transferred to other organism when the organisms consume one plants
 Energy in the higher trophic level is lesser than at lower trophic level
 90% of the useful energy is lost with each transfer to the next highest level
 Important aspects of Energy flow in Ecosystem:
1. Food Chain
 It refers to the transfer of food energy from the source through a
series of organisms. It is classified as follows:
a) Grazing Food Chain
o Starts from green plants base going to grazing
herbivores then carnivores

b) Detritus Food Chain

o Dead organic matter into microorganisms and then
to detritus feeders and their predators

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2. Foob Web
 It refers to the interconnected/ interlocking relationship among
various food chains in an ecosystem.
 An organism may feed on several members of the food web
3. Food Pyramid
 It constitutes the overall structure of dependency among the living
elements in an ecosystem
 Sustainability depends upon the existence of the bottom level
 The lowest level of the food pyramid are the food sources
 The very existence of those at the top of the pyramid depends on the
capacity of those at the bottom to maintain their existence in a way
that adequately supplies the needs of those on the top through time

 Basic Ecological Principles

1. Diversity (Biodiversity)
 It is the extent to which an ecosystem possesses species in terms of genetic variations and
distributions
 Directly related to the stability of ecosystem
 Diversity can be increased through:
 Immigration
 Births
 Seed Production
 Diversity can be decreased through:
 Deaths and emigration
2. Distribution
 species need to be evenly distributed to as to get biological needs evenly
 individuals in a population are either distributed randomly, uniformly, or clumped:
 Randomly
-occurs when there is no need for species to stay together for reasons of security,
access to food or other biological needs
 Uniformly
-There would be severe competition among individuals
 Clumped (clustering)
-formation of groups of species
3. Population Density
 Population Density is expressed as the number of individuals/ species per unit area/volume
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Example: 3000 trees per hectare of land; 500 fishes per cubic meter
The lower the environmental disturbance, the higher the species density and the greater the
capacity of the ecosystem to sustain itself.
 Seasonal weather changes, reproductive practice, local habitat differences or threat from
other species can affect population density
4. Dominance
 Every community has 1 or 2 dominant species, being the most abundant or containing the
most biomass
 Keystone Specie – the most important specie; determines the structure of a community
5. Limiting Factors
 Each specie has tolerance to variations in chemical and physical factors in its environment.
 Acclimation – a process by which an organism adapts to its environment
 Example: Temperature and amount of DO for fishes, amount of grass available for grazing
animals, low temperature for frogs, lizards and snakes, amount of sunlight and soil nutrients
for plants
 KINDS OF ORGANISM INTERACTION
1. Predation
 This is a kind of interaction when one animal ( predator) kills and eats another (prey)
 Prey-predator relationship are often one sided
2. Competition
 Interaction in which two organisms strives to obtain the same limited source and in the
process both are harmed to some extent
 Both organisms fight but only one gets food and is notably less harmed
3. Symbiotic Relationship
 It is a close, long-lasting physical relationship between two different species of organisms
 Categories of Symbiotic Relationship
1. PARASITISM
 One organism (parasite) lives in another organism (from which it derives
nourishment)
 In general, the parasite is much smaller than host.
 The host is harmed but is not killed by the parasite
 Two types of parasite: Ectoparasite and Endoparasite
2. COMMENSALISM
 One organism benefits while the other is unaffected
3. MUTALISM
 The relationship when both species are benefited

 ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
 The observed process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time.
The community begins with relatively few pioneering plants and animals and develops through
increasing complexity until it becomes stable or self-perpetuating as a climax community.
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 Ecological succession is a process involving several phases:

1. Nudation: Succession begins with the development of a bare site, called Nudation
(disturbance).
2. Migration: It refers to arrival of propagules.
3. Ecesis: It involves establishment and initial growth of vegetation.
4. Competition: As vegetation became well established, grew, and spread, various species
began to compete for space, light and nutrients. This phase is called competition.
5. Reaction: During this phase autogenic changes affect the habitat resulting in
replacement of one plant community by another.
6. Stabilization: Reaction phase leads to development of a climax community.

 Types of Ecological Principles:

1. Primary Succession
-begins with bare mineral surfaces such as bare rock surface
2. Secondary Succession
-begins with the destruction/ disturbance of an existing ecosystem
-climax community – refers to a relatively stable, long lasting and more complex
community of species
 POPULATION PRINCIPLES
1. Natality
 It refers to the number of individuals added to population through production
 Birthrate – refers to the number of individuals born per one thousand individuals in a
 population per year
2. Morality
 Number of deaths per year
3. Sex Ratio
 Refers to the number of males relative to the number of females in the population
4. Age Distribution
 It refers to the number of individuals of each age in the population
 When population density of organism is too great, there is severe competition
 Overcrowding might cause exploration and migration into new areas
 Population Growth Curve:

 Carrying Capacity of a specific area – refers to the number of individuals of species that can survive in
the area over a period of time
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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

 Broad Categories of Factors Affecting the Carrying Capacity

1. Availability of raw materials
2. Availability of energy
3. Accumulation of waste product and their means of disposal
4. Interactions among organisms
 Nutrient Cycles:
1. Carbon Cycle

2. Nitrogen Cycle

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

3. Oxygen Cycle

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

WATER CYCLE AND WATER QUALITY

 Hydrology
- Hydrology is the study of water and its movement along its various pathways within the
hydrological cycle. This is applied by engineers who use hydrological principles to compute river
flows from rainfall, water movement in soils form knowledge of soil characteristics, evaporation
rates from water balance or energy balance techniques.
 The Water Cycle
- The hydrological cycle is central to Hydrology. It is a continuous process showing constant state of
motion of water. Water evaporates from the earth’s oceans and water bodies and from land
surfaces. About seven times more evaporation occurs from oceans than from the earth’s land
surfaces. The evaporated water rises into the atmosphere until the lower temperatures aloft
cause it to condense and then precipitate in the form most globally as rain but sometimes as
snow. Once on the earth’s surface waters flow into streams, lakes, and eventually discharges into
surface waters. Through evaporation from surface water or transpiration plants, water molecules
return to the atmosphere to repeat the cycle. The term evapotranspiration is used referring to
combined evaporation and transpiration usually exhibited by living plants. In general of 100 units
of rain that falls on grassland in temperature zones, 10 to 20 units will go to groundwater, 20-40
units will transpire and 40 to 70 units will become stream runoff.

 Water never leaves the Earth. It is constantly being cycled through the atmosphere, ocean, and land.
This process, known as the water cycle, is driven by energy from the sun. The water cycle is crucial to
the existence of life on our planet.
 Evaporation-The sun heats up liquid water and changes it to a gas. Water that evaporates from Earth’s
oceans, lakes, rivers, and moist soil rises up into the atmosphere.
 Condensation -As water (in the form of gas) rises higher in the atmosphere, it starts to cool and become
a liquid again.
 Groundwater -water absorbed into the ground forming pockets of water. Most groundwater eventually
returns to the ocean.
 Water runoff -Other precipitation runs directly into streams or rivers
 The earth has approximately 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water either trapped underground on the
surface or in the atmosphere. More than 97% of this is salt water found in the oceans and seas and
more than 2% is fresh water frozen in the polar ice caps.

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

WATER QUALITY
Water in nature is most nearly pure in its evaporation state. However it acquires impurities once condensed and
additional impurities are added as the liquid water travels through the remainder of the hydrologic cycle and
comes in contact with materials in the air and on or beneath the earth’s surface. In addition, human activities
contribute further impurities in the form of industrial and domestic wastes, agricultural chemicals, and other
less obvious contaminants. These impure water returns to the atmosphere as relatively pure molecules through
evaporation.

It is the water quality in the intermediate states that is of great concern because it is the quality at this stages
that will affect human use of water. The impurities are accumulated in water throughout the hydrologic cycle
and as a result of human activities may be both suspended (larger particles) and dissolved from (molecules,
ions). Colloids are also very small particles that are suspended but often exhibit many characteristics of dissolved
substances.

Water supplies:
1. Ground water Supplies
- Ground water is an important direct source of water supply and a significant indirect source since
a large portion of the flow to stream is derived from subsurface water. Near the surface of the
earth in the zone of aeration, soil pore the spaces contain both air and water. This zone may have
zero thickness in the swamplands and can be several hundred feet thick in arid regions. Moisture
from this zone cannot be tapped as water supply since this water is held on soil particles by
capillary forces and is not readily released.

- Below the zone of aeration is the zone of saturation, in which the pores are filled with water.
Water within this zone is referred to as Groundwater. A stratum containing a substantial amount
of groundwater is called Aquifer and the surface of this saturated layer is known as the Water
Table. If the aquifer is underlain by the impervious layers, it is called an unconfined aquifer. If the
stratum containing water is trapped between two impervious layers, it is known as confined
aquifer.

2. Surface water Supplies

- Surface water supplies are not as reliable as groundwater sources because quantities often
fluctuate widely during the course of a year or even a week, and the quality of surface water is
easily degraded by various sources of pollution.

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS

I. Physical Water-Quality Parameters

1. Suspended Solids – consists of inorganic and organic particles

Sources:
a) Inorganic Solids – clay, silt, other soil constituents
b) Organic Solids – plant fiber and biological solids (algal cells, bacteria, etc)
Impacts: Objectionable in water, aesthetically displeasing and provides adsorption sites for chemical
land biological agents

2. Turbidity – a measure of the extent to which light is either absorbed or scattered by suspended material
in water. This is not a direct quantitative measure of suspended solids
Sources: erosion of colloidal matters such as clay, silt, rock fragments and metal oxides from soil,
vegetable fibers and microorganisms, soaps and detergents, emulsifying agents.
Impacts: aesthetically displeasing, provides adsorption sites for biological and chemical agents, cause
undesirable tastes and odor, impart color to natural water bodies, may interfere with light penetration
during photosynthesis, sediments and solid deposits also adversely affect the flora and fauna of the
streams

3. Color – Pure water is colorless but water in nature is often colored by foreign substances
a) Apparent Color – color that is partly due to suspended matter
b) True Color – color that which is contributed by dissolved solids that remain after removal of the
suspended matter
Sources: contact with organic debris such as leaves, conifer needles, weeds, or wood, water pick up
tannins, humic acid, and humates and takes on yellowish-brown hues. Iron oxides cause reddish water,
Manganese oxides cause brown or blackish water. Industrial wastes: textile and dyeing operations, pulp
and paper production, food processing, chemical production, mining, refining, and slaughterhouse
operations add substantial color to water in receiving streams.
Impacts: Not aesthetically acceptable to general public. Highly colored water is not suitable for laundry,
dyeing, papermaking, beverage manufacturing, diary production, and other food processing, textile and
plastic production

4. Taste and Odor – Substances that produce an odor in water will almost invariably impart a taste as well
Sources: minerals, metals and salts from soil, end products of biological reactions, and constituents of
wastewater. Inorganic substances are more likely to produce taste unaccompanied by odor. Alkaline
materials imparts bitter taste to water, metallic salts impart salty or bitter taste. Organic susbstances
most likely produce both taste and odor. Biological decomposition of organic matter may result to taste
and odor producing liquids and gases. Certain species of algae also secrete oily substances which may
result to taste and odor.
Impacts: aesthetically displeasing, health threat (since carcinogens may be produced when some
organics react with chlorine during disinfection)

5. Temperature – It is not used to evaluate directly either potable water or wastewater. However, It is one
of the most important parameters in natural surface water systems
Sources: ambient temperature (temperature of the surrounding atmosphere), industries discharges
waste heat
Impacts:
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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

- Biological activities increase when temperature increases. A 10OC increase in temperature is

sufficient to double the biological activity of organisms if the essential nutrients are available.
- Accelerated growth of algae often occurs in warm water and can become a problem when cells
cluster into algae mats.
- Natural secretion of oils by the algae in the mats and decay products of dead algae cells can result
in taste and odor problems.
- The dead algae will also require oxygen in its decomposition which may result to a DO level
insufficient to support higher-order species such as fishes
- Oxygen is more soluble in cold water than in warm water. This in turn affects the amount of DO in
water.
- Temperature also affects other physical properties of water. The viscosity increases with
decreasing temperature, the maximum density of water occurs at 4OC.

II. Chemical Water Quality Parameters

1. Total Dissolved Solids – the material remaining in the water after filtration and is left as residue upon
evaporation. It constitutes a part of total solids. Dissolved solids may be organic or inorganic
Sources: solvent action of water on solids, gases and liquids, decay products of vegetation or from
organic chemicals and gases
Impacts: produces aesthetically displeasing color, tastes and odors, some maybe toxic and carcinogen

2. Alkalinity – it is a measure of the ability of water to neutralize acids

Sources: Dissolution of mineral substances in soil and atmosphere, phosphates originating from
detergents in wastewater, from fertilizers and insecticides from agricultural lands.
Impacts: alkalinity imparts bitter taste to water, reaction between alkalinity and other ions will produce
precipitates that can foul pipes and other water systems.

3. Hardness – concentration of multivalent cations in solution. It is classified as carbonate and non-

carbonate hardness
Concentration based on Calcium Carbonate concentration:
<50 ppm as CaCO3 - soft
50 - 100 ppm as CaCO3 – moderately hard
150 -300 ppm as CaCO3 – hard
300 ppm as CaCO3 – very hard
Sources: Calcium and Magnesium, Iron and Manganese, Strontium and Aluminun
Impacts: soap lathering problems, scaling in pipes, faucets, and boilers

4. Metals
Non-toxic metals: A Manganese, Aluminun, Copper, Zinc, Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium
Toxic metals: Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Lead, Mercury, Silver
Sources: domestic and industrial use of water, dissolution form natural deposits
Impacts: health hazards (toxic and carcinogens)

5. Fluoride
Sources: household products
Impacts: Fluoride is toxic to humans and other animals in large quantities
Excessive dosage of fluoride can cause bone fluorosis and other skeletal abnormalities

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

Prevents dental cavities in children if the concentration is 1.0 ppm ( in drinking water)
Cause discoloration of teeth (mottling) if the concentration is > 2 ppm
Mottling is rare if the concentration is < 1.5 ppm
Can cause bone fluosis if the concentration is 5 ppm
Recommended limit in drinking water = 1.5 ppm

6. Organics
Biodegradable Organics: dissolved from domestic or industrial wastewater discharges (starches, fats,
proteins, alcohols, acids, aldehydes, and esters)
Non-Biodegradable Organics/ Refractory organics: organics that are resistant to biological degradation
Examples: Tannic and lignic acids, cellulose and phenols degrade very slowly
Ring structured materials: benzene, detergent compounds ABS, pesticides, herbicides
Impacts: Health hazards (toxic and carcinogen), some cause frothing and foaming, increase turbidity

7. Nutrients: (Nitrogen and Phosphorus)

Sources: Nitrogen containing compounds (proteins, animal wastes, fertilizers, wastewater discharges)
Phosphates in Municipal Waste water may come from detergents
Impacts:
- NO3 form of nitrogen may cause nitrate poisoning in babies (blue baby syndrome or
methemoglobinemia)
- Phosphates interfere with wastewater treatment
- Nutrients in excessive amounts can cause Eutrophication of rivers.

 Standards for Drinking Water

Quality Parameter Concentration
Color 15 color unit
Ph 6.5 -8.5
TDS 500 ppm
Chlorides 250 ppm
Foaming agents 0.5 ppm
Sulfates 250 ppm
Zinc 5 ppm
Manganese 0.05 ppm
Iron 0.3 ppm
Copper 1 ppb

III. Biological Water Quality Parameters

1. Waterborne diseases are those acquired by ingestion of pathogens not only in drinking water but also
from water that makes into a person’s mouth from washing food, utensils, and hands
- Example: Giardia lamblia( a protozoa), Vibro Comma (bacteria)
- Classification of Pathogens (causing water-borne diseases)
a) Bacteria: classified as cocci, bacilli, spirilla
b) Protozoa: an order of magnitude larger than bacteria
c) Viruses
d) Helminths – parasitic worms and other parasites

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Pathogens Disease Remarks

Bacteria
1. Escherichia coli Gastroenteritis Diarrhea
(enteropathogenic)
2. Leptospira Leptospirosis Jaundice, fever(Weil’s disease)
3. Salmonella typhi or Typhoid fever High fever, diarrhea, ulceration
Salmonella Typhosa of the intestine
4. Salmonella Salmonellosis Food poisoning
5. Vibrio Cholerae or Vibrio Cholera Extremely heavy diarrhea,
Comma dehydration
6. Shigella Shigellosis Bacillary dysentery
7. Legionella pneumophila Legionellosis Acute respiratory illness
Protozoa
1. Giardia lamblia Giardiasis Mild to severe diarrhea, nausea,
indigestion
2. Entamoeba histolytica Amebiasis Prolonged diarrhea with
bleeding
3. Cryptosporidium parvum Cryptosporidiosis Diarrhea
4. Balantidium coli Balantidiasis Diarrhea, dysentery
Viruses
1. Adenovirus (31 types) Respiratory disease
2. Endoteroviruses (67 types, Gastroenteritis, heart anomalies,
e.g. polio, Coxsackie viruses) meningitis
3. Hepatitis A Infectious hepatitis
4. Norwalk agent Gastroenteritis
5. Reovirus Gastroenteritis
6. Rotavirus Gastroenteritis
Helminths
1. Ascaris lumbricoides Ascariasis Roundworm infestation
2. Enterobius vericularis Enterobiasis Pinworm
3. Taenia saginata Taeniasis Beef tapeworm
4. Taenia solium Taeniasis Pork tapeworm
5. Trichuris trichiura Trichuriasis Whipworm

6. Water-contact diseases do not require that individuals ingest the water

- Schistosomiasis (bilharzias) – It is a common water-contact disease in the world, affecting
approximately 200 million people. It is spread by free-swimming larva in the water called
Cercaria which are transported by snails.

7. Water Hygiene
- Water also plays an indirect role in other diseases common in developing countries. Insects that
breed in water, or bite near water are responsible for the spread of malaria, affecting some 160
million people and killing 1 million each year. Yellow fever, sleeping sickness and river blindness
spread in the same way. Inadequate supplies of water for personal hygiene results in skin

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diseases such as scabies, leprosy, and yaws as well as eye diseases such as trachoma and
conjunctivitis.

- River Blindness – tiny intestinal worms that appears in a person’s eye that in most cases would
cause blindness. These tiny intestinal worms are transported by flies. This disease was dominant
in Uganda Africa

 Bacterial measures:
1. Counting Colonies/ ml – sample is placed in an agar sterile and incubated for 24-48 hours, after
which darkspots are counted (indicating pathogen that have lysed)
2. MPN – The sample is placed in a lactose broth and allowed to ferment. The coliform produces gas
and make the broth cloudy. The Bingham tube with was space is counted as positive. MPN stands
for Most Probable Number.

 Additional Terms:
1. Endemic – refers to a disease prevalent in and confined to a particular population
2. Epidemic – is an outbreak of an infectious disease spreading widely in a particular area
3. Epidemiology – is the study of the causes of a disease spreading in a community
4. Microbiology – is the study of microorganisms and their activities

IV. Radiological Water Quality Parameters

- Excessive exposure to radioactive materials is harmful and unnecessary exposure should be
avoided (including drinking water). Radioactivity in public drinking water supplies is the 3rd
category of contaminants regulated by the Safe Drinking water Act. Naturally occurring
Radioactive compounds include radon and radium 226 found in ground water. Strontium 90 and
tritium are also found in surface water resulting from atmospheric nuclear weapon testing
fallout.

- Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for radium 226 + radium 228 = 5pci/L
- MCL (for alpha particle activity) including radium 226 but excluding radon and uranium = 15
pci/L
- MCL (for beta particles and photon activity) 4 mrem/yr (annual dose to the whole body or any
particular organ)

- The most significant radionuclides associated with drinking water is dissolved radon gas. Radon
gas is colorless, odorless and tasteless gas occurring naturally in ground water.

 Categories of Drinking Water Standards

1. Primary standards
2. Secondary standards
3. Radioactivity
4. Microbial contaminants

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

WATER PURIFICATION PROCESSES IN NATURAL SYSTEMS

Natural forms of pollutants have always been present in surface waters. Long before the dawn of
civilization, many impurities were washed from air, eroded from land surfaces, or leached from the soil
and ultimately found their way into the surface waters. With few exceptions, natural purification
processes were able to remove or otherwise render these materials harmless. Indeed, without these
self-cleaning processes, the water-dependent life on earth could not have developed as it did.

The self-purification mechanisms of natural water systems include physical, chemical and biological
processes. The speed and completeness with which these processes occur depend on hydraulic
characteristics (volume, rate, turbulence of flow), physical characteristics of bottom and bank material,
variations in sunlight and temperature, as well as the chemical nature of natural water. These are set by
nature and can seldom be altered.

I. Physical Processes
1. Dilution
Wastewater disposal practices were based on the premise that “the solution to pollution is
dilution”. Dilution was considered the most economical means of wastewater disposal and was
considered good engineering practice. Although dilution is powerful adjunct to self-cleaning
mechanisms of surface waters, its success depends upon discharging relatively small quantities
of waste into large bodies of water. The dilution capacity of a stream can be calculated using the
principles of mass balance.

Concentration after mixing is calculated from: 𝑪𝒔 𝑸𝒔 + 𝑪𝒘 𝑸𝒘 = 𝑪𝑴 𝑸𝑴

2. Sedimentation and Resuspension

Suspended solids is one of the most common water pollutants and in suspension, solids increase
turbidity and reduce light penetration may restrict the photosynthetic activity of plants, inhibits
vision of aquatic animals, interfere with feeding of aquatic animals that obtain food from
filtration and be abrasive to respiratory structures such as gills of fish.

Sedimentation is nature’s method of removing suspended particles from a watercourse and

most large solids will settle out readily in quiescent water. Particles in the colloidal size range
can stay in suspension for long periods of time though eventually most of these will also settle
out. This natural sedimentation is not without drawbacks.

Drawbacks of sedimentation:
- Anaerobic conditions are likely to develop in sediments and any organics trapped in
them will decompose, releasing soluble compounds into the stream above.
- Sediments deposit can also alter streambed by filling up the pore space and creating
unsuitable conditions for the reproduction of many aquatic organisms.
- It can also alter its course or hamper navigation activities and reduce reservoir storage
capabilities and silt in harbors and increase flooding due to channel fill-in.

Resuspension of solids is common in times of flooding or heavy runoff. Increased turbulence ay

resuspend solids formerly deposited along normally quiescent areas of stream and carry them
for considerable distances downstream and eventually they will settle again.

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3. Filtration
Large bits of debris lodge on reeds or stones as they move along streambeds and they remain
caught until high waters wash them into mainstream again. Small bits of organic matters and
inorganic clays and other sediments may be filtered out by pebbles or rocks along the
streambed. As water percolates from the surface downward into groundwater aquifers,
filtration of a much more sophisticated type occurs. If the soil layers are deep and fine enough,
removal of suspended material is essentially complete by the time water enters the aquifer.

4. Gas Transfer
The transfer of gases into and out of water is an important part of the natural purification
process. The replenishment of oxygen lost to bacterial degradation of organic waste is
accomplished by the transfer of oxygen from the air into the water. Conversely, gases evolved in
the water by chemical and biological processes may be transferred for the water to the
atmosphere. Gas transfer is affected by solubility (extent to which gas is soluble in the water)
and transfer rate ( rate at which dissolution or release occurs).

5. Heat Transfer
Bodies of water lose and gain heat much more slowly than do land or air masses and under most
circumstances, water temperature is fairly constant and changes gradually with the seasons.
Meteorological variables and other factors such as channel characteristics (depth, width, surface
area), channel volume, etc. affect the rate of heat transfer in bodies of water. For streams
heated by solar radiation over several miles of heat-load area, cooling begins only in shaded
areas or at night and may proceed much more slowly than cooling in streams which receive
their heat load in one discharge

II. Chemical Processes

6. Chemical Conversions:
 Oxidation-reduction, dissolution-precipitation and other chemical conversions may
alternately aid or obstruct natural purification processes of natural water system.
Strictly speaking, Oxidation-reduction conversions that play a part in self-purification of
watercourses are biochemically mediated.
 Certain minerals pass into and out of solution and natural chemical conversions that
may take place in water can change theses materials into a form that is soluble and
useable by various aquatic organisms.
 Examples are Iron, Manganese, copper, zinc, molybdenum and cobalt which are
micronutrients needed by microorganisms for biochemical processes.
 Nutrients (Nitrogen and Phosphorous) are present in watercourses and when ferric ion
is also present the following reaction will occur:

𝑭𝒆𝟑+ + 𝑷𝑶𝟑−
𝟒 → 𝑭𝒆𝑷𝑶𝟒

 The precipitate is insoluble ferric phosphate and settles to the bottom.

 Chemical conversions that take place in streams and lakes can help to stabilize the pH of
those bodies of water. Limestone and other forms of CaCO3 dissolve readily in water
containing CO2. Carbonic acid may for and dissociates thereby producing hydrogen ions.
The hydrogen ions thus formed react with slightly soluble calcium carbonate to yield

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

highly soluble calcium and more bicarbonate ions. The bicarbonate ions act as buffer to
protect a stream fro pH fluctuations that can be harmful to aquatic systems.

𝑪𝑶𝟐 + 𝑯𝟐 𝑶 → 𝑯𝟐 𝑪𝑶𝟑

𝑯𝟐 𝑪𝑶𝟑 → 𝑯+ + 𝑯𝑪𝑶−
𝟑

𝑯+ + 𝑪𝒂𝑪𝑶𝟑 → 𝑪𝒂 + 𝑯𝑪𝑶−
𝟑

III. Biological Process

7. Metabolic Processes (Biochemical processes)
 Many chemical reactions involved in the self-purification process are biologically
mediated. In case of biodegradable organics and other nutrients, the activation energy
can be supplied by microorganisms that utilize these materials for food and energy.
 The process by which living organisms assimilate and use food for subsistence, growth,
and reproduction is called metabolism. The metabolic processes and the organisms
involved are a vital part of the self-purification process of natural water systems.
 Catabolism provides the energy for synthesis of new cells as well as for maintenance for
other cell functions.
 Anabolism provides the material necessary for cell growth

 Microorganisms that play an important role in natural water-system

1. Bacteria
- Primary decomposers of organic material. Autotrophs derive both
energy and material from inorganic sources while heterotrophs obtain
both energy and material from organic compounds. Phototrophs are
those bacteria which utilize sunlight for an energy source and inorganic
substances for material source.
2. Protozoa
- Protozoa are single-cell organisms that reproduce by binary fission.
Protozoa re voracious consumers of organic material and are important
members of the aquatic community
3. Algae
- These are autotrophic, photosynthetic organisms which metabolize the
waste product of heterotrophic bacteria while obtaining energy for
sunlight
4. Other organisms – rotifers and Crustacea, Sludge worms

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

ENGINEERED WATER PURIFICATION PROCESSES

Many aquifers and isolated waters are of high water quality and may be pumped from the supply and
transmission network directly to any number of end users including human consumption, irrigation,
industrial processes, or fire control. However such clean water sources are the exception to the rule,
particularly in regions with dense populations or regions that are heavily agricultural. Here, the water
supply must receive varying degrees of treatment prior to distribution.

A typical water treatment plant is diagrammed in the figure. Such plants are made up of series of
reactors or unit operations, with water flowing from one to the next and when stacked in series, achieve
a desired end product. Each operation is designed to perform a specific function and the order of these
operations is important.
Disinfecting Agent
Alum

Raw
Water

A
(1) (2) (3) Sludge (4) (5) (6) (7)

Water Supply Potable Water

Legend:
1. Chemical Mixing Basin
2. Flocculating Basin
3. Settling tank
4. Rapid Sand Filter
Coagulation & 5. Disinfection with Chlorine
Flocculation 6. Clean Water storage basin
7. Pump for water distribution

I. Coagulation and Flocculation

Raw surface water entering a water treatment facility usually has significant turbidity caused by tiny
colloidal clay and silt particles. These particles have a natural electrostatic charge that keeps them
continually in motion and prevents them from colliding and sticking together. Chemicals such as alum
(aluminum sulfate) are added to water (stage 1), first to neutralize the charge of the particles and then to
aid in making the tiny particles “sticky” so they can coalescence and form large particles (stage 2). The
purpose is to clear the water of suspended colloidal solids by building large particles from the stable
colloidal solids so that these large and heavier particles could be readily settled out of water

Coagulation is the chemical alteration of the colloidal particles to make them stick together forming large
particles called flocs. It is destabilization of the colloids. The following mechanisms are thought to be
involved in coagulation

a) Charge Neutralization
The aluminum ions are used to counter the charges on the colloidal particles. The colloidal
particles in natural waters are commonly negatively charged and when suspended in water, repel
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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

each other due to their like charges. Aluminum ions in Al2(SO4)3 are positively charged and when
these are drawn to the negatively charged particles, they compress the negative charge on the
particles, making them less stable in terms of their charges. They form then larger particles.

b) Interparticle bridging
This involves sticking together of the colloidal particles by virtue of macromolecules formed by
the aluminum hydroxides. The polymers bridge the gap between adjacent particles, thereby
creating larger particles. In addition, because aluminum hydroxide is soluble in low pH, there is a
need to raise pH and that is done by addition of Ca(OH)2. Some of the calcium precipitates as
CaCO3 which assist also in settling.

𝑪𝒂(𝑶𝑯)𝟐 + 𝑯𝟐 𝑪𝑶𝟑 → 𝑯𝟐 𝑶 + 𝑪𝒂𝑪𝟎𝟑

The carbonic acid in the chemical equation is formed with the presence of carbon dioxide in the
water.

c) Sweep Coagulation
Al(OH)3 is also formed during the hydrolysis of alum and this is amorphous, gelatinous flocs that
are heavier than water settle by gravity. During the precipitation, the colloids may be entrapped
in the flocs as they are being formed or they may become enmeshed by its sticky surface as the
flocs.

𝑨𝒍𝟐 (𝑺𝑶𝟒 )𝟑 + 𝑯𝟐 𝑶 → 𝑨𝒍(𝑶𝑯)𝟑 + 𝑯𝟐 𝑺𝑶𝟒

Flocculation is the physical combination of the coagulated particles forming flocs

II. Settling or Sedimentation

Flocs formed must be separated from the water. This is invariably done in gravity settling tank that simply
allow the heavier-than-water to settle to the bottom. The sludge in water treatment plants is aluminum
hydroxides, calcium carbonates, and clays, is not highly biodegradable and will not decompose at the
bottom of the tank. Typically, sludge is removed every few weeks through a valve at the bottom and is
wasted either into sewer or into a sludge holding/drying pond. Settling tanks work because the density of
the solids exceeds that of the liquid. The movement of a solid particle through a fluid under the pull of
gravity is governed by a number of variables:

 Particle size
 Particle shape
 Particle density
 Fluid density and viscosity

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

Important calculations:
𝟐
𝑸 (𝒎 ⁄𝒔) 𝑯
𝒗𝒐 = = 𝟐
=
𝑨 (𝒎 ) 𝒕
1. Overflow rate

𝑽 𝒎𝟑
𝒕= = 𝟑
𝑸 (𝒎 ⁄𝒔)
2. Residence time

III. Filtration
Environmental engineers have learned to apply natural purification of water through its movement to soil
and sand. They have developed what is now known as the Rapid sand filter. The operation of this process
involves two phases, the filtration and backwashing.

A simple illustration as follows: Water from the settling tanks enters the filter and seeps through the sand
and gravel bed, through a false floor and out into a clear well that stores the finished water. During
filtration, valves A and C are open; filtration load is usually about 4 gal/ min-ft2.
The suspended solids that escape the flocculation and settling processes are caught on the filter sand
particles and eventually the rapid sand filter becomes clogged and must be cleaned through a process
called Backwashing. During this operation, valves D and B are opened. The suspended solids trapped
within the filter, released and escape with the wash water.
Other filters make use of activated carbon (powder or granules in form) as filtering media in place of sand
and gravel.

Rapid Sand Filter Wash water (D)

Water from sedimentation tank (A)

Filtrate for disinfection (C)

Water for Backwashing (B)

IV. Disinfection
Water is disinfected in order to destroy whatever pathogenic organisms are present. The disinfectant
commonly used is chlorine, purchased as liquid but is released to the water as gas using a chlorine feeder
system. The presence of a residual of the active chlorine in the water is an indication that no further
organics remain to be oxidized and that the water can be assumed to be free of disease-causing
organisms. Usually, 0.5 ppm is added but residual chlorine must be 0.2 ppm to ensure disinfection.
Possible formation of the following compounds makes chlorination quite dangerous:
 Trihalogen methanes, chlorinated phenols, halogenated methanes, ethanes and ethene,
halogenated polynuclear aromatic Hydrocarbons and chlorinated aldehydes and ketones.

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Chlorine Dioxide can also be used as disinfectant. It possesses theoretically 25 times greater oxidizing
power than chlorine. Advantages of using this as disinfectant are:
 no deterioration to taste and odor
 formation of THM (trihalogen methanes) can be neglected
 does not react with ammonia.
Drawbacks include:
 formation of toxic Chlorite(ClO-2) and chlorate (ClO-3) which can also cause
methemoglobinemia in babies just like nitrates if concentration in water exceeds 0.1
ppm.

Ozone is also used as disinfectant. This is produced from oxygen in pure form or from ionization of clean
dry air. Drawbacks include its being expensive ( 2-3 times higher than chlorine).

𝟑𝑶𝟐 + 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 → 𝟐𝑶𝟑

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

WASTE WATER ENGINEERING

Municipal Use of Water categories
1. Domestic – water used for sanitary and general purposes
a. Residential ( Interior and Exterior use)
b. Commercial
c. Institutional
d. Recreational
2. Industrial (non-domestic purposes)
3. Public Services and Maintenance
4. Unaccounted System Losses and Leakage

Variations for water use ( factors that affect water use in a community)
1. Climate
2. Community Size
3. Density of Development
4. Economics
5. Dependability and quality of supply

Components of Wastewater Flows

1. Domestic Wastewater –also called sanitary wastewater
2. Industrial Wastewater
3. Infiltration/ Inflow (I/I)
a. Infiltration is water that enters the sewer system through leaking joints, cracks and breaks or porous
walls
b. Inflow is storm water that enters the sewer system form drain connections (catch basins),
foundation and basement drains, or through manhole covers
4. Storm water

Types of Sewer System:

1. Sanitary Sewer System
2. Storm Sewer System
3. Combined Sewer System

Wastewater Contaminants:
1. Suspended solids – can lead to the development of sludge deposits and anaerobic conditions
2. Biodegradable Organics – composed primarily of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Their decomposition
can lead to depletion of natural oxygen resources and development of septic conditions
3. Pathogens – (bacteria, viruses, protozoa, parasites ) the transmit diseases
4. Priority Pollutants – organic and inorganic compounds; selected on basis of their known or suspected
carcinogenity, mutagenicity, or high acute toxicity
5. Refractory organics – organics that tend to resist conventional methods of wastewater treatment.
Examples are: phenols, ABS, pesticides
6. Heavy Metals – (Hg, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Ag, As, Ba) – these metals are added to wastewater from
commercial and industrial activities.
7. Dissolved Inorganics (salts) – inorganic constituents such as Ca, Mg, Na, SO4 are added to the original
domestic water supply as a result of water use and have to be removed if the wastewater is to be
reused.

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

Measurements usually done on wastewater

1. DO – Dissolved Oxygen affects aquatic life
2. pH ( 6.5-8)
3. BOD –Biological Oxygen Demand, measure of organic pollution
 5-day BOD at 20 degrees Celcius is the most widely used measure of organic pollution
applied to both wastewater and surface water.
 Test used to measure the content of organic matter of waste water
 Most reliable measure of organic contend and incubation is 2 hours
4. COD –Chemical Oxygen Demand (always higher that BOD and the test results usually comes in 3
hrs)
5. TOC –Total Organic Carbon
6. Alkalinity
7. Nutrients (Nitrogen and Phosphorus)
8. Sulfur and Sulfur Compounds( SO4 = H2S)
9. Methane (CH4) – principal by product of an anaerobic decomposition of organic organisms in
water and wastewater
10. Solids(TS,TSS,TDS, VSS)

Solids Determination

FLOW SHEET FOR SOLIDS DETERMINATION

Water
Sample
Imhoff Total
Settable Evaporation
Cone Solids
Solids

Filter
Evaporation
Drying

TSS TDS

Muffle Oven Muffle Oven

FSS VDS FDS

VSS

TVS TFS
Total Solids

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

Problems:
1. Two streams converge as shown below: Determine the flow, temperature, and Do on the merged stream
ate point C
Stream A: Flow = 3.7 m3/s
T = 21OC
DO = 4.5 ppm Stream C

Stream B: Flow = 2.5 m3/s

T = 17OC
DO = 7.5 ppm

2. Effluent form a wastewater treatment plant is discharged to a surface stream. The characteristics of the
effluent and stream are as follow:
Effluent Stream
Flow 8460 m3/d 1.2 m3/s
5-day BOD 25 ppm 2.1 ppm
Ammonia 7.0 ppm 0 ppm
Nitrate 10 ppm 3 ppm
Chloride 15 ppm 5 ppm
Determine the characteristics after mixing with waste has occurred.
3. A water treatment plant settling tank has an overflow rate of 600 gal/d.ft2 and a depth of 6 ft. What is its
residence time?
4. A small water plant has a raw water inflow rate of 0.6 m3/s. It was found through experimentation that the
particles after flocculation all settle at a rate Vs = 0.004 m/s. A proposed rectangular settling tank has an
effective settling zone of L= 20 m, H = 3m, and W = 6m.
a) Can 100% removal be expected?
b) If not, what parameter should be changed?
c) What percent of particles are removed based on computed volumetric flowrate (ideal) ?
5. A settling tank in water treatment plant has an inflow of 2 m3/min and a solids concentration of 2100 mg/L.
The effluent form this settling tank goes to sand filters. The concentration of sludge coming out of the
bottom of the settling tank (underflow) is 18,000 mg/L and the flow to the filters is 1.8 m 3/min.
a) What is the underflow rate (settling tank) ?
b) What is the solids concentration in the effluent (flow to filters)?
c) How large must the rapid sand filter be ( m2) if the filter loading is 4 gal/ft2.min.

BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND PROBLEMS

1. What is the BOD of a waste sample that yields an oxygen consumption of 2.0 mg/L from a 1% sample?
2. What sample size is required for a BOD of 30 mg/L if the Oxygen consumed is limited to 6 mg/L?
3. In a BOD determination, 6 ml of wastewater are mixed with dilution water containing 8.6 mg/L of DO.
After a 5-day incubation at 20OC, the DO content of the mixture is 5.4 mg/L. Calculate the BOD of the
wastewater sample. Assume that the initial DO of wastewater is zero.
4. The 5 day BOD of a waste sample was found to be 40.0 mg/L. The initial oxygen concentration of the
dilution water was equal to 9 mg/L, the DO concentration measured after incubation was equal to 2.74
mg/L and the size of the sample was equal to 40 mL. Estimate the initial DO concentration in the waste
sample.

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Eng’g 500: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

Drying 37

TSS TDS