Environmental engineering

Water treatment, activated sludge, air pollution control, and Chick's law

What is environmental engineering?

Environmental engineering designs the actual physical systems used to protect human health and the environment — treating drinking water and wastewater, controlling air pollution, and managing solid waste, applying the environmental science covered in the Earth Sciences section to practical, built systems.

Treating drinking water

Water drawn from a river, lake, or well isn't necessarily safe to drink straight away — it typically needs treatment to remove particles, harmful microorganisms, and other contaminants. A typical drinking water treatment plant removes suspended particles, filters the water through layers of sand or other material, and finally disinfects it (commonly with chlorine or ultraviolet light) to kill remaining harmful microorganisms before it's distributed for use.

Treating wastewater

Used water from homes and businesses (wastewater) needs to be treated before it's released back into the environment, to avoid polluting rivers, lakes, and groundwater. Wastewater treatment plants remove solid material and use biological processes to break down dissolved organic waste, relying on naturally occurring bacteria to consume and break down that waste, before releasing cleaned water back into the environment.

Controlling air pollution

Industrial facilities and power plants often need equipment specifically engineered to remove pollutants from their exhaust before it's released into the atmosphere. Different pollutants require different removal technologies, since a solid particle, a gas, and a specific chemical compound each need to be captured or removed in a different way.

Why environmental engineering matters

Environmental engineering directly protects public health by ensuring safe drinking water and properly treated wastewater, and it limits the environmental damage caused by air pollution and improperly managed waste — much of the measurable improvement in environmental quality and public health over the past century traces directly back to environmental engineering systems being designed, built, and properly maintained.