Introduction to

Environmental Engineering
& Management

Dr Bandunee Athapattu
 What is Environmental Science?
• Science can be differentiated into the
social sciences and natural sciences.
• Natural sciences include
– core sciences chemistry, biology, and physics
– numerous applied sciences such as geology,
meteorology, forestry, and zoology
– environmental science is an integrative
applied science that draws upon nearly all of
the natural sciences to address environmental
quality and health issues
 What is Environmental
Engineering?
• Environmental engineering uses
environmental science principles, along
with engineering concepts and techniques,
to assess the impacts of societal activities
on the environment, of the environment on
people, and to protect both human and
environmental health
• Environmental engineering requires a
sound foundation in the environmental
sciences
 The Interdisciplinary Nature of
Environmental Science and
Engineering
• Groundwater contamination by leaking
gasoline storage tanks – material science,
hydrogeology, geochemistry, microbiology,
hydraulics AND environmental engineering
• Urban air pollution – chemical/mechanical/
automotive engineering, meteorology,
chemistry, AND environmental
engineering
 What is Environmental
Management?

• Environmental Mangement requires a

sound foundation in the environmental
sciences and environmental engineering
to get decisions to protect environment
 Key Elements of Modern
Environmental Science and
Engineering
• Based on chemistry – environmental
quality described by chemical composition
of the system
• Quantitative – magnitude of the problem
and feasibility of the solution are described
numerically
• Driven by government policy, which is
increasingly set on the basis of risk
The Natural Environment
and the Human Economy:

An Ecological Perspective
 What is Ecology?
• Ecology is a branch of science that
systematically studies the relationships
between living organisms and the physical
and chemical environment in which they
live.
 Why Study Ecology?

 to provide a broader and deeper understanding of the

natural process by which natural resources are created
and maintained
 to understand some of the natural laws that impose
limitations on the interaction of organisms (including
humans) with their living and nonliving environment
 to show the specific ways in which human interaction
with nature has been incompatible
 to identify some of the important links between ecology
and economics, two disciplines which are imperative for
a holistic view of natural resource problems and issues.
 ECOSYSTEM: A Starting Point of
Ecological Study
• An ecosystem includes living organisms in
a specified physical environment, the
multitude of interactions between the
organisms, and the non-biological factors
in the physical environment that limit their
growth and reproduction, such as air,
water, minerals, and temperature.
Major components of an
ecosystem:
– Abiotic (nonliving) components
• The atmosphere (air)
• The hydrosphere (water)
• The lithosphere (earth crust)
– Biotic (living) component
• Producers -- organisms capable of
photosynthesis
• Consumers -- herbivores and carnivores
• Decomposers – microorganism

The Biosphere = Abiotic + biotic = Life

Abiotic components of an
ecosystem serve as;
:
– Habitat (space) and immediate source of
water and oxygen to organisms.
– Reservoir of the six most essential
elements for life (C, O, H, N, S, P). These
elements constitute 95% of living
organisms; and found in fixed amount.
– An agent for “material” recycling!
 Ecosystem Functions
• Ecosystem function  movement or
transformation of matter and energy

– Requires constant flow of external energy

– Solar radiation--fuels the natural ecosystem
– The movements of matter and energy are
represented by various forms of cycles.
The Biotic Cycle
• Matter and energy flow in the biotic cycle
(see Figure --):
– The role of the producers
– The role of the consumers
– The role of the decomposers
• Material recycling at the biotic cycle level
– Material recycling is not 100% efficient
Implications

• In a natural ecosystem, living and non-

living matter has reciprocal
relationships. For that matter, survival
and ‘proper’ ecosystem functioning
dictate mutual interactions
(interdependence) among organisms
and between them and the abiotic
environment.
Other well known cycles
• Atmospheric Cycles -- carbon, nitrogen,
sulfur, etc.
• Geologic Cycle, recycling of phosphate
• Hydrologic cycles
• Biogeochemical cycles
The Basic Lessons of Ecology
• The substance that we often identify as
natural resources (air, water, food,
minerals, valleys, mountains, forests,
waterfalls, wilderness, etc.) evolved from
a multitude of complex interactions of
living and non-living organisms, that are
powered by the energy from the sun over
a period measured on geological time
scale.
– Hence, natural resources are not just factors
of production
The interactions among the elemental
components of the biosphere are governed
by three principles:
– First, all matter in the ecosphere is mutually
linked. Hence, human economy cannot be
viewed in isolation as the Circular Diagram
model depicts it.
– Second, material recycling is essential for the
growth and revitalization of all the components
of the ecosphere. No such thing as waste in
nature.
– Third, the various components of the biosphere
go through gradual process of developmental
stages--from pioneer to climax.
The biosphere cannot escape the
fundamental laws of matter and energy:
– First law:
• natural resources are finite
• pollution is an inevitable by-product of any
transformation of matter-energy (including the
human economy).
– Second law:
• energy cannot be recycled
• no perfect machine--limit on energy conversion
technology
 Humanity as the Breaker

• Simplification of the Ecosystem:

– Monoculture and its implication--the case of the Irish
Potato Famine
• Creation of industrial pollution (waste):
– Waste beyond ecological thresholds (carbon dioxide
emission and global warming)
– Waste that are new to the natural ecosystem
• Introduction of invasive plant and animal species

The end result of all this is a decline in the productivity

and diversity of the natural ecosystems
Human Influences on Ecosystems
• We normally separate non-human
(natural) aspects of ecosystems from
human (anthropogenic) influences
• Many ways to describe perturbations
– chemical − biological − physical
– land use − pollution − global
• Response may be complex due to the
interrelationships
 Bioaccumulation
and
Biomagnifications
 Role of Energy
• Primary source of energy that drives
ecosystems is the sun
• Process starts with primary producers that
convert inorganic carbon into organic
compounds that store energy
• Photosynthesis
6CO2 + 6H2O + energy → C6H12O6 + 6O2
 Basic Trophic Levels

1 Autotrophs

2 Herbivores
(chemotrophs)

Carnivores
3
(chemotrophs)
Food Webs
 Bioaccumulation
• Many organic compounds are highly
hydrophobic (water hating)
• Hydrophobic compounds partition to other
phases, such as the plankton, in aquatic
systems
• The partition coefficient is the equilibrium
constant for reaction
chemicalwater == chemicalother phase
Cother phase
K
Cwater
 Biomagnification
• When partitioning concentrates a chemical in
one phase that is the food for a higher phase,
the chemical can further concentrate as we
move up the food chain
 Biomagnification
• While partitioning is primarily a chemical
process, biomagnification is a complex
biological process
• Biomagnification factors are empirical
Air, Water and Soil
 Air
• Low molecular interaction
• Gas-phase and photochemical reactions
• Ideal Gas Law
PV=nRT
• Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures
Pt = P1 + P2 + … + Pn
• UNITS!
volume/volume
 Air

Nonvariable Gases
Nitrogen 78.08%
Oxygen 20.95%
Argon 0.93%
Neon 0.002%
Variable Gases
Water Vapor 0.1 - 5.0%
Carbon Dioxide 0.035%
Ozone 0.000006%
 Water
• Takes a lot of added heat to change temperature
• Absorbs or releases more heat than many substances for each
degree of temperature increase or decrease

Steam

Boiling

Water

Melting

Ice
Water Cycle
 Nitrate concentrations in
water
• typical U.S. surface waters: 0.2–2.0
mg/L
• European Union: 50 mg/L NO3
• SLS –Potable water
– 10 mg/L NO3-N and
 Soil

• Mixture
– includes water and air
• Surface reactions
• Partitioning reactions
• Classify soils
• Units
mass/mass
 Soil Mixture
Organic
3%

Air
25%

Minerals Water
47% 25%
Classifying Soil
Elemental composition of
earth outer-surface layer

Si
O

Al
P, Mn, Si, Cl, Fe
C Ti K Na Mg Ca
The Rock Cycle
 Mineral Deposits
• Igneous Activity – as magma cools, elements
crystalize and settle out differently, e.g.
diamonds, chromium, nickel, platinum
• Weathering – extraction, e.g. aluminum from
clays, or purification, e.g. removal of Si from Fe
deposits
• Sedimentation – concentrated in stream
channel, e.g. gold and tin
• Precipitation – dissolved materials come out of
solution, e.g. limestone, phosphate rock