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Updated: 9 September 2015

CEE 370
Environmental Engineering
Principles
Lecture #1
Introduction I
Reading: Chapter 1 in Mihelcic & Zimmerman
David Reckhow

CEE 370 L#1

Introduction to
Environmental Engineering
CEE-370
Lecture 1
Presented by: Rassil and Julie

Introduction to CEE 370

Syllabus

Environmental Engineering
The application of science and engineering principles:
To care for and/or restore our natural environment
To solve environmental problems associated with human activities

Impacts everyone and everything

Plants
Insects
Animals
Humans
Ecosystems

The Big Picture

Human overpopulation (~7,363,183,400)
Resource use (land, water, fossil fuels, crops, meat)

Intensive farming
Higher meat production and crop farming
Increased irrigation
Nutrient pollution

Land use
Desertification
Habitat change
Land pollution

Hydrology
Distribution of water resources
Quality of water resources

Challenges:
Fresh water supply
Running out of oil
Climate change
Mounting of solid
waste

Main Umbrellas - Air

Air pollution
Acid rain
Greenhouse gases
CO
Particulate matter
O3 at the ground level
Pb
Nitrogen oxides
Sulfur oxides

Indoor air quality

CO
Radon
Mold and moisture

Main Umbrellas - Land

Land/soil quality
Heave metals: Pb
Insecticides
Pesticides
Fertilizers
Petrols, oils, solvents etc..
Ash

Main Umbrellas Drinking

Water
Water quality
Surface water
Ground water

Microorganisms (Fecal and total coliform, Legionella, Giardia

lamblia, cryptosporidium, viruses, turbidity)

Disinfection by-products (Haloacetic acids, trihalomethanes,

bromate, chlorite, others)

Inorganic chemicals and metals (As, Pb, F, Chromium, nitrates,

nitrites, Cd, Asbestos)

Organic chemicals (dioxin, PCBs, toluene, vinyl chloride )

Radionuclides (radium, uranium)

Cycling of Mercury

(http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/waste/mercury-inventory-new-zealand-2008/2mercury-environment)

Common Environmental
Engineering Terms
Pollution prevention
At source rather than at end-of-pipe

Sustainable engineering
Water/wastewater treatment technology
Environmental remediation
Contaminant removal from environmental media

Some Basic Rules

mass(g)=MW (g/mol) x n (Moles)
Example: What is the number of moles of KCl (MW=74.45

g/mol) in 74.45 g of KCl?

n=mass/MW=0.07445/74.45= 0.001 mol

Molar concentration: Ci (mol/L)=ni (mol) / Volume (L)

In 1 L of water: Ci=0.001/1=0.001 mol/L

Mass concentration: Ci (g/L)=massi (g) / Volume (L)

In 1 L of water: Ci=0.001 g/L

Some Basic Rules

Dilution: C1V1=C2V2
Example: You have a 12.0 M solution of hydrochloric acid

(HCl) and your experiment requires 150.0 mL of 8.0 M HCl.

How much water and how much 12.0 M HCl should you use
to make 150.0 mL of 8.0 M HCl?
How much HCl?
12V1= 8*150
V1= 8*150/12= 100 mL of HCl
How much water?
150-100=50 mL of water

Mass Balance

Conservation of mass to account for material entering and

leaving a system to analyze physical systems
1.

Define you control volume

2.

Choose the material of interest

3.

Consider all possible sources (inputs) and sinks (exports)

Typical mass balance

Evaporation

Precipitation

Surface
water

Sediment

Bottom
Algae

Basic Questions
What is the stuff ? Identify the species of interest
How much stuff is there? Concentration
Concentration: the amount of a substance per amount of

media

Common forms (assuming constant pressure):

Mass balances of substance A in air:

CA=MassA / VolumeAir
Chemical reactions of substance A in air:

[A]=MolesA / VolumeAir

Basic Questions
How fast is the stuff entering and exiting a specified

volume? Flow rate or Q

Flow rate: the volume of fluid that passes through a given

media per unit time

Q (L3/T)= Volume / time = Area * velocity
If we have 10 gallons of tap water in 10 minutes:

Q=10 gal/10 min=1 gal/min

Typical mass balance

Example: N

Evaporation

Precipitation

Qin
Cin

Qout
Cout
Surface
water

Sediment

Bottom
Algae

Accumulation= imports exports + sources sinks

=CinQin-CoutQout+S-kVC

Lab Session #1
Objective: To

measure volumetric flow rate (Q) and

mean velocity (v) of a small stream

Three methods:
Floating markers
Tracer-dilution
Mechanical current meters

Floating Markers Method

A measure of the time it takes for an object to float a

specified distance downstream, or a measure surface velocity

(vsurface)
Eq. 1,2

Eq. 3
Eq. 4

Tracer-Dilution Method
(Instantaneous)
A measure of the downstream concentration of a tracer

(known volume and concentration) discharged/injected

instantaneously (sudden/slug) upstream over time until the
concentration reaches the background level.

Tracer concentration (C)

Calculating the discharge from the slug injection method

involves integration, or calculating the area under the curve

of concentration vs. time
Area
Cb
Time (t)

Mechanical Current Meters

Method
Swoffer meter: Based on stream velocity at a specific point

(depth and width) for a specified time frame (in seconds).

0.6D

0.2D
0.8D

Lab Session #1
Today:
Make groups of 4.
Read and understand the lab session handout for next weeks lab exercise for

all three methods.

Day of:
Expect to step into the stream (knee-depth at most) so wear appropriate

clothing (flip-flops, shorts).

Bring a notebook to record your data and take notes.
Leave on time to reach Groff Park by 2:25 PM
If you dont know the directions and/or need a ride, talk to your TA.

Write-up
Prepare a write up (1 per group) as per technical report handout and the lab

handout (last couple of pages)

Turn in your write-up at the beginning of the following lab session.

You have a two-week period instead of the traditional one-week period.

Next

To next lecture

Reading for next class:

M&Z: Chapter 1

Hardins Tragedy of the Com m ons Science, 13 Dec

1968 (pg 1243)
Also in html

David Reckhow

CEE 370 L#1

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