Water Quality Engineering in a Changing World

12 units · Graduate

Spring: 12 units Water systems face increasingly complex challenges. They need to provide safe and reliable water. They need to be resilient in the face of climate change. And they need to be sensitive to resource constraints and emerging water quality concerns. Meeting these challenges requires engineers who understand treatment processes, who can evaluate competing risks and benefits and develop sustainable and resilient approaches to water quality management; Water Quality Engineering aims to equip students with these skills. This course examines the principles and practice of water quality engineering, with an emphasis on sustainable and resilient approaches to water treatment. Topics include water quality characteristics and measurement; water chemistry, thermodynamics, and chemical equilibrium; equilibrium modeling and its application to water treatment; and physical and chemical treatment processes, e.g., softening, adsorption, and disinfection. Students consider alternative treatment approaches and the tradeoffs among treatment effectiveness, sustainability, resilience, and risks, such as disinfection byproduct formation. Guest speakers from water treatment technology companies and engineering consulting firms connect course concepts to the challenges, decisions, and practices students will encounter as water engineers and decision makers.