What is Environmental Engineering?

Biology

Environmental Engineers often require an understanding of biological systems as many projects and problems that engineers are charged with have some influence on organisms in the natural environment. In these cases Environmental Engineers must understand how individual species populations may be impacted and also how interactions between different populations may be influenced (ecology). Whether designing a stream relocation, sizing a wastewater discharge diffuser or determining the best location of a solid waste landfill, Environmental Engineers must consider how the natural biota will be impacted and minimize any negative effects.

Environmental Engineers also require an understanding of microbiology in the design of many Environmental Engineering systems. Wastewater treatment, composting, drinking water purification and solid waste landfills all involve micro organisms and it is important to understand how they will perform in the systems. Environmental Engineering systems represent some of the world’s largest and most complex applications of biotechnology!

Chemistry

From the air that we breathe to the water we drink and products that we use, everything is comprised of molecules. As a society we always want clean air, a potable water supply and to reduce impacts from disposal on our environment. More often than not, the protection, cleanup or management our consumable resources requires an understanding of chemistry as it is applied to environmental processes. For example, knowledge of something as simple as the chemical behaviour of a water supply in response to changes in its acidity (measured by pH) is an immense help to an engineer. The pH influences how quickly certain contaminant plumes move through the subsurface, whether or not contaminants might be removed from water by certain treatment processes, and the extent to which those contaminants will cause toxicity in plants, animals or humans. Another example would be a PCB spill that has happened over the past 50 years. Often it is thought that such a spill would only take at most 50 years to clean up, however, chemistry elucidates that the chemical processes to release PCB’s from the soil take several thousands of years to be completely restored!

When it comes to chemistry, the Environmental Engineering Program at the University of Waterloo helps students identify the important chemical aspects of a given system, and shows them how to use that information along with information from other disciplines to provide the best engineering solutions to protect and enhance our World.

Computer Modelling

Computer modelling is the mathematical representation of known scientific physical, chemical and biological processes. Often, computer models are used in Environmental Engineering to solve very large complex problems of combined water flow and chemical reactions in surface waters or groundwaters, chemical and biological reactions within water treatment facilities or climate modelling and global warming to name a few. Many of the researchers in the Environmental Engineering field at Waterloo are at the fore front in model development and using many of the World’s largest super computers for simulating and visualizing the movement of radioactive waste in fractured rock, the bio-chemical evolution of contaminants in groundwater, petroleum reservoir simulations, changes in permafrost due to climate change and air quality problems.

To write source code, apply models and to properly characterize their input, a solid background in physics and mathematics is essential. In addition, an implicit knowledge of geologic processes, hydraulics, fluid mechanics, chemistry and biology are also key to adequately describing the processes of our World. The old adage applies no where better than to Environmental Engineering – “garbage in – garbage out”. Environmental Engineers must have a holistic understanding of earth processes to ensure that their “output” from modelling exercises accurately portrays the complexities of reality for the sustainability of our planet.

Ecology

Ecology is the study between organisms and their environment. The environment not only includes the physical but also the biological conditions under which an organism lives; and the relationships involve interactions with the physical world as well as inter-relationships with members of other species and individuals of the same species. Regardless of what we do to the environment as humans, whether it is positive or negative, it translates into impacts on a whole host of organisms and is largely controlled by the scale of the impact that we impose.

Environmental Engineers are taught that the consequences of their decisions and actions always result, in some measure, in impacts on the environment. A founding principle in Environmental Engineering is to cornerstone the lessons and courses given with the founding principles of sustainability. Moreover, part of the Environmental Engineering profession is to search out new techniques to minimize negative impacts on our environment while restoring and influencing as many positive impacts as possible. To this end, Environmental Engineers take courses in ecology and biology so that they are aware of the intricacies of the interrelationships between various species on our planet. They also learn that working in the environment does not happen in a void and no one individual holds the key to interpreting a system - it is very inter-disciplinary. Environmental Engineers closely work beside Civil Engineers, Ecologists, Terrestrial Biologists, Fisheries Biologists, Archeologists, developers and agency personnel to find solutions to complex problems while minimizing the impacts to our environment.

Geography

The question of "where?" is important to any field of engineering, but probably more so to Environmental Engineering. While most engineers work on the small scale of cars or computers or buildings, Environmental Engineers like to work on really big problems. They have to answer questions about entire rivers, aquifers, or metropolitan areas. To find these answers, they often utilize many of the skills developed in the discipline of geography.

Geography is a science that investigates the spatial relation between different or similar communities, land forms, geologic conditions, industrial patterns, vegetative communities, etc. Environmental Engineers can use geographic methods to investigate cause-and-effect relationships between pollutant concentrations and health risk or identify the least invasive location for a new landfill, or understanding the changing permafrost conditions from global warming. When asking these big questions, Environmental Engineers have to make and analyze maps that are later used to make important political decisions about the environmental future of our communities.

Geology

Geology is as much of a key player in the environment as water and air. The rate that water flows off of fields or flows through the ground or the type of vegetation that grows in an area, or where particular minerals occur is largely, or solely, governed by the geology of a region. Geology is also complex, as a result of many billions of years of constant metamorphosis and containing hundreds of different minerals that eventually surface into the hydrosphere in which we all live. Knowledge of the different flow processes through geologic media and the types of minerals that water may pick up along the way is very important in comprehensively understanding how our environment works.

Geology plays a key role in the sighting of a land fill or a nuclear waste repository, for example, to ensure that spills or leakage from a facility into the surrounding environment is minimized to water and air sources and exposure to all creatures of the Earth by being placed in the appropriate geologic units. The particle sizes in streams (coming from the surrounding geology) and water temperature flowing through groundwater that discharge to a stream often limit the types of fish or other aquatic species that can be found in our streams and rivers. Potable drinking water supplies must be developed in areas where clean water can be found, drilling a well in the wrong location may result in a very salty or toxic water source that is detrimental to human health or other life forms. In Environmental Engineering, part of managing and enhancing a sustainable environment must look beyond clean air and water, it must also consider clean soil and where the water comes from. To do this an understanding of geologic processes is very important.

Global Warming

Climate is the consequence of the movement of water and energy. It determines where people choose to live and to work as well as the ability of the environment to absorb the impact of these choices.

Environmental Engineers must thoroughly understand the climate. In particular they must have a sound knowledge of the climate-related processes that occur in the atmosphere and at or below the land surface and how conditions will change as the climate changes. Understanding the dynamics and consequences of global warming is essential to ensure the long-term efficacy of environmental protection measures.

Because of this background, Environmental Engineers are often involved in climate related studies typically in cooperation with other disciplines. Projects could include, for example, the design of green roof systems and near-natural streams for an urban environment as well as large-scale studies of the environmental implications of natural disasters.

Groundwater

Groundwater is the study of how water moves through geologic media under our feet, the interactions with surface water and the fate of various chemicals and contaminants as they flow within the ground. The old adage of “out of sight – out of mind” frequently applies to groundwater studies where individuals have buried chemicals under ground only to find out through illnesses of animals and humans at some time after the chemicals were buried that they have contaminated our drinking water supplies, streams or lakes. Locating a municipal well and the amount of water that it pumps can often have impacts on the amount of cold groundwater that enters streams which sustains fisheries populations. Where you locate a septic bed is important to minimize impacts to the aquatic environment and drinking water supplies. Septic beds located in the wrong soil, or at too shallow of a depth or too close to a water well often result in water contamination, so knowledge about the groundwater flow system is essential.

The study of groundwater (known as hydrogeology) is the culmination of many different subject areas including geology, physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology and ecology, to name a few. An Environmental Engineer working on groundwater problems can be found in the field supervising the drilling of water wells or monitoring wells, in the lab conducting chemical experiments through different geologic media or on isotopes, or running very sophisticated computer models physically describing parts of our environment and trying to understand how water and/or contaminants move through the Earth. Hydrogeology is one of the most famous research programs at the University of Waterloo for over the past 30 years dealing with the environment and has a long standing tradition of excellence and well trained students.

Hydraulics

Hydraulics is the study and behaviour of fluids in all three forms (solid, liquid and air). The study of fluids can be applied to the flow of air around the nose cone of a super sonic jet, how water flows through pipes, or the flow of ice in glaciers. In Environmental Engineering, hydraulics typically refers to the flow and behaviour of surface water (e.g. rivers, lakes and streams). We usually think of the construction of hydro electric dams, the flooding of valleys or towns, water delivery through irrigation ditches and storm water management as common applications of hydraulics. However, the movement of sediment in streams, the removal of dams and spillways, river restoration and water park developments are some of the more modern and evolving applications of hydraulics.

In Environmental Engineering, an understanding of how “water flows down hill” is key to all applications of Environmental Engineering. If we can not adequately describe how water flows, bridges over rivers or housing developments would be at higher risk of flooding or the supply of drinking water and disposal of sewage through pipes would be problematic. Greater challenges exist when trying to understand how pollutants behave in water or how water can be treated or even how fish move within a river channel if a fundamental understanding of hydraulics is not achieved.

Hydrology

Hydrology involves the study of the properties, distribution, and circulation of water on and below the earth's surface and in the atmosphere. Engineering hydrology has a particular focus on the relation of the effects of precipitation and evaporation on the occurrence and character of water in streams, lakes, and on or below the land surface. The study of hydrology involves understanding the various processes involved in the movement of water through the hydrologic cycle as well as the development of models to describe and quantify the various processes.

Environmental Engineers use hydrology to address problems related to water availability for uses such as water supply for municipal drinking water. This might involve designing a storage facility of sufficient capacity to provide the required quantity water at a specified reliability. Other problems of interest include determining the expected risk associated with flooding events for a given location, as well as determining the area likely to be subjected to flooding conditions in times of high water, and determining design stream flow magnitudes for water crossings. Environmental Engineers also need to determine adequate stream flows to ensure the survival of aquatic organisms.

Nuclear

Nuclear power accounts for about 20 percent of North America’s total electricity generated. A nuclear power plant operates basically the same way as a fossil fuel plant, with one difference: the source of heat. The process that produces the heat in a nuclear plant is the fissioning or splitting of uranium atoms. Like all industrial processes, nuclear power generation has by-product wastes: radioactive waste and hot water. Radioactive wastes are the principal environmental concern for nuclear power. Most nuclear waste is low-level nuclear waste. It is the ordinary trash, tools, protective clothing, wiping cloths and disposable items that have been contaminated with small amounts of radioactive dust or particles. These materials are subject to special regulation that govern their storage so they will not come in contact with the outside environment. On the other hand, the irradiated fuel assemblies are highly radioactive and must be stored in specially designed pools resembling large swimming pools (water cools the fuel and acts as a radiation shield) or in specially designed dry storage containers which are sealed in special concrete reinforced containers and kept on site.

Environmental Engineers are often involved in radioactive waste programs to find more secure methods of high level radioactive waste disposal and management. Environmental Engineers, groundwater modellers, chemists, civil engineers, climatologists, geologists and whole host of other professions are continually searching for locations across the globe for countries to store their radioactive waste in long-term facilities buried deep within the Earth’s crust. It is the goal of these project to ensure that radioactive waste and possible leaks to the environment never happen or are minimized over several hundreds of thousands of years. These are some of the most challenging and important decisions facing our world in the 21st century.

Physics

The environment in which we live is governed, for the most part, by the laws of physics. The flow of water in a pipe, the decay of radioactive waste, the creation of smog, or the operation of a solar panel can all be understood in terms of physical laws. Environmental Engineers have to understand these laws so that they may design methods for reducing contamination in our air, soil, and water. They also need physics to understand and predict the fate of pollutants, so they can better prepare for future impacts of our industrial society.

Environmental Engineers use physics in a variety of ways. They use physical relationships to design drinking water treatment plants and landfills. They use mathematical descriptions of physical rules to develop computer simulations of chemical reactions, pollutant movement, and global warming. Physics is everywhere, and often the only way to answer questions about our environment is to first open a physics textbook.

Waste Management

Wastes are generated by all sectors of our society. As individuals, we generate wastewater (sewage), solid wastes (garbage) and hazardous wastes (paint thinners, solvents, etc). Industries generate wastes that are by-products of manufacturing processes. If not controlled, these wastes can have a harmful effect on human health and the environment.

The role of Environmental Engineers is to develop approaches and infrastructure that minimize the harmful effects of wastes upon our current and future environment. A preferred alternative is to minimize waste generation at the source. The 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) are an example of this type of waste reduction. Environmental Engineers design systems that put the 3R’s into practice. While waste minimization is important it is not currently possible to eliminate waste generation completely. Hence, Environmental Engineers design facilities such as sewage treatment plants, composting facilities and landfills that eliminate the harmful impact of wastes.

Water Resource Management

Human existence on Earth depends on freshwater. Our quality of life is also closely related to the availability of freshwater. Aquifers (water underground), lakes and rivers have been a source of water supply for agricultural, municipal, and industrial consumers. Rivers serve as transportation conduits and provide hydroelectric energy. Lakes and rivers provide us with recreation and sustain wildlife. Rivers in particular have been utilized as a means of transporting and transforming human waste products. These competing uses for a finite supply of freshwater require careful management. In addition to the direct management of specific sources of water such as a reservoir or aquifer, water resources management involves agricultural, wetland and forest management. How we manage each of these systems directly impacts the quality and quantity of water that enters our drinking water sources.

Water resources management requires the identification and evaluation of alternative system management plans based on their economic, ecological, environmental, and social or political impacts. Environmental Engineers in water resources management provide critical and diverse technical and decision-making skills. They are involved in the development of mathematical models that describe the physics and chemistry of the water resource system being managed. They define the design requirements for new systems (e.g. the maximum storage requirement for a new reservoir) and optimize the management of existing systems (e.g. the amount of reservoir water that should be released instead of stored). Perhaps most importantly, Environmental Engineers in water resources management have the skills to address very general and ill-defined problems (e.g. river water quality is bad) and redefine them more clearly (e.g. Where, when and how bad is water quality? Why is water quality bad? What are negative impacts of bad water quality and thus what levels of improvement are necessary?) such that targeted, effective and efficient management decisions are possible.