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Environmental

Engineering (EVEN)

What is EVEN?
What can you do as an
Environmental Engineer?

• “Engineers solve ill-defined problems


that have no single “right” answer but
many better or worse solutions….”
– Engineering and the Mind’s Eye, Ferguson

ABET Definition of Engineering:


• Engineering is the profession in which
knowledge of math and sciences,
• gained by study, experience, and practice,
• is applied with judgment to develop ways to
economically utilize the materials and forces
of nature to benefit mankind
Profession = knowledge, organization, public good

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What new engineers need to
know? (industry surveys)
Skills Ranks % important
Communication 1 / 1 89
Teamwork 3/4 94
Ethics 2 85
Creative 3 85
thinking
Design 7/2 88
Fundamentals 5 73
Also: business skills (3), computing (5)

What is Environ. Engineering?


• Deals with study and design of facilities that fulfill
basic needs (air, water) while ensuring that the
quality of the natural environment is not degraded
• Sub-areas
– WATER
• Water supply
• Drinking Water Treatment
• Sanitation (sewers, wastewater treatment)
– Air pollution
– Solid Waste Management
– Industrial Waste Management
– Site Remediation
– Ecological Effects
– Public Health

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Sectors where Env Engrs Work
• Federal, state, local government ~28%
– Environmental Protection Agency
– CO Dept of Public Health and the Environment
– Municipality (Denver Metro)
• Consulting firms ~33%
– From international to single office
• Industry ~27%
– Oil companies, manufacturing, etc.
• Private business / self employed
• Non-profit organizations (NGOs), Peace
Corps, social service abroad

Job market HOT for Env Eng


• fastest growing professional job over the next 10
years with a projected demand increase of 54%, the
largest of any job (Fortune Magazine, Mar 21, 2005)
• US Department of Labor: favorable job
opportunities, with employment expected to increase
FASTER THAN AVERAGE through 2014.
– More environmental engineers needed to comply with
environmental regulations and to develop methods of
cleaning up existing hazards.
– A shift in emphasis toward preventing problems rather than
controlling those that already exist, as well as increasing
public health concerns, also will spur demand.
– Employment less affected by economic conditions than that
of most other types of engineers
• Listed in Fast Company Top 25 Jobs 2005 – 2009;
www.fastcompany.com/articles/2005/01/top-jobs-main.html

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Overview
• What is safe?
– Pathogens and disease-causing bacteria...
– Chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects...
– Human safety vs fish, frogs, birds, etc.
• Balancing different needs
– Drinking water vs Irrigation vs Ecosystem
– Water rights (Colorado River for US vs Mexico)

EVEN vs Civil & Chemical Eng?


• Historically, civil engineers handled “sanitary”
engineering
– Public infrastructure for drinking water, wastewater, solid
waste
• 1970 EPA formed; environmental regulation era
begins
– Industries have to comply with env. regulations such as
RCRA, etc. so chemical engrs already employed at those
companies take on those jobs
– Combustion power plants designed by mechanical
engineers must add air pollution control equipment
• ~2000: Environmental has enough demand and
specialized enough needs to become its own
“licensed” professional engineering discipline

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Water Resources
• Supply enough water for
public use & ecological needs
– determine water sources
(surface, ground)
– transmit and collect water
through pipes, ditches, culverts
• Predict flood and drought
conditions
– operate dams to ensure
capacity for droughts and floods
– design run-off structures (storm
sewers) and detention basins
• Model watershed effects

Drinking Water Treatment


• Collect ground water or
surface water
• Remove pathogenic
microorganisms,
pesticides, metals
(arsenic), etc. from water
• Distribute to public…
without allowing
recontamination

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Municipal Wastewater
Treatment
• Sewer design (sanitary + storm
water)
• Remove organics, nutrients (N, P),
pathogens from water
– biological processes
– physical/chemical processes
– chlorine, UV light, ...
• Treat sludge (biosolids)
– make compost, etc.

Sanitation
• Decentralized, local treatment

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Air Pollution
• Industry: coal-fired power
plants, etc.
– Treatment before release to
environment
• Indoor air pollution
– Sources, treatment
(hospitals, airplanes)
• Global impacts

Solid Waste

• Waste: quantities,
properties
• Avoiding waste
– Industrial processes
– Green design
– Life cycle assessment
• Waste collection
• Waste reprocessing

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Landfills
• Understand the
properties of soils &
waste
– Stability,
mechanical
properties, ...
• Work with
geotechnical (civil)
engineers,
groundwater
hydrologists, etc.
Waste tires fuel
power plant in
Westley, CA

Site Remediation
• Locations
contaminated by
previous activities
• Evaluate soil, water,
air pollution; local
ecology, etc
Pollution in under-
ground river, KY
(dye added to
track water flow)

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Site Remediation
• Design methods to clean-up site so it is safe
for humans & the environment
Baku, Azerbaijan
Run-off from oil rigs
contaminate the
water

• Most major engineering projects today are


multi-disciplinary so you will work with other
engineers and non-engineers
– Wastewater tmt plant = environmental, structural,
electrical, mechanical, ….
– Site remediation = hydrologist, geologist, chemist,
environmental, construction,...
• Government regulations, public input

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What can you DO as an
environmental engineer?
• Design a water treatment plant,
landfill, etc.
• Talk with the public, clients, etc. to
determine their needs
• Field work - collect samples,
measure water quality,….
• Work with a TEAM to complete
complex tasks

…what else can you DO?


• Write technical reports, expert
opinions, etc.
• Work with computer-aided
design programs
• Travel to job sites
• Have meetings with clients,
etc.
• Give oral presentations to
public, answer questions, ….
• Do research in a laboratory

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Helping protect public health and the
environmental is the KEY goal.

Find what fits your personality the best!

Many Environmental Engineers will do all of


the previously listed tasks over a career….

Environmental Engineering at
CU
• Multi-disciplinary
• Faculty in 4 departments
– Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering
(CEAE Dept; Civil Eng degree = CVEN)
• Water resources, water treatment, sanitation, waste
management, remediation
– Mechanical Engineering (MCEN) air pollution
– Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE)
• Industrial waste treatment
– Aerospace Engineering - remote sensing, GIS
• Courses combined from many disciplines
• Combined BS EVEN/MS CVEN possible

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After you graduate:
• Life long learning!
– Improvements in technology
– Changes in regulations
• Becoming a registered Professional
Engineer (PE) is important

There is always a need for


Environmental Engineers
• We always need clean water to drink
• We always have wastes to treat and dispose
• We always need clean air to breathe

• …we always want cheaper and better ways to


improve all of the above….

….job security!

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• “ultimately, what most satisfies
engineers is complex, technical
problem-solving and the
opportunity to work with stimulating
colleagues and to make a
meaningful contribution to society”
– The Civilized Engineer, S.C. Florman

For more information:


http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/EnvEng/

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