civil engineers: environmental engineering erik r. coats, pe, ph.d. ce 115 november 10, 2005
TRANSCRIPT
Civil Engineers:Environmental Engineering
Erik R. Coats, PE, Ph.D.
CE 115
November 10, 2005
What do we do?• Solve problems
– Design infrastructure and systems to remedy “pollution” that is either human-caused or naturally occurring such that exposure does not cause harm
• More specifically:– Potable Water Treatment– Wastewater Treatment– Landfill Design– Hazardous Waste Treatment– Surface Water and Ground Water Quality
Water Treatment• Produce safe drinking water
• Surface water and ground water
• EPA establishes minimum standards>129 contaminants regulated• Inorganics
• Arsenic at 0.01 mg/L
• Microbial• E. coli• Cryptosporidium: Milwaukee (1993) 400,000 sick;
100 deaths
• Synthetic organics• Man-made contaminants: we then need to remove
Wilsonville Water Treatment Plant
• Drinking Willamette River water– Industrial, agricultural, and municipal
discharges– Fish deformities– Carcinogens– Teratogens: birth defects
• Solution: advanced physical & chemical treatment technology
Treatment Process
River Intake
Sedimentation
Ozonation
Granular Activated Carbon
Filtration
Water Supply Planning
Why Treat Wastewater?• Organics – deplete oxygen
• Nutrients – toxic; deplete oxygen
• Pathogens – human contact
• Temperature?
Wastewater Treatment• Reclaim water for non-potable and potable
uses– Discharge to surface water– Irrigation– Industrial re-use– Wetlands reclamation
• Reclaim solids– Fertilizer– Plastic?
• http://www.wef.org/apps/gowithflow/theflow.htm
Rock Creek, OR WWTP
Moscow, Idaho WWTP
Influent Wastewater
More Influent
Biological Treatment
Disinfection
Biosolids Processing
Final Effluent!
Colfax, WA WWTP
Colfax, WA WWTP
Plastic from Wastewater?
Landfills – do we deal with trash?
No - we design the infrastructure
• Waste cells
• Leachate collection
• Storm water management
• Gas collection
Typical Landfill
Landfill Liner
Landfill Closure
Composting
Landfill Leachate – control?
Landfill Bioreactor
• Recycle leachate – enhance biological activity
• Increases waste decomposition rate
• Increase landfill capacity
• Recover gas (methane) for power generation
Where do we work?
• Consulting
• Industry
• Regulatory
• Environmental groups
• Academics
Science background?
• Biology
• Microbiology
• Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Physics
Thank you!
Questions?