Sustainable Environmental Practices

Sustainable Environmental Practices

Sustainable Environmental Practices

Tara Pandey

Sustainable Environmental Practices

Tara Pandey

ISBN - 9789361523922

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Preface

In this book, the basic subject matter is covered. Fundamental science that instructors in more advanced courses may depend upon is included. Mature undergraduate students in allied fields—such as biology, chemistry, resource development, fisheries and wildlife, microbiology, and soils science—have little difficulty with the material.

We have assumed that the students using this text have had courses in chemistry, physics, biology, as well as sufficient mathematics to understand the concepts of differentiation and integration. Basic environmental chemistry and biology concepts are introduced in the book also.

Materials and energy balance are introduced early in the text. It is used throughout the text as a tool for understanding environmental processes and solving environmental problems.

Nowadays, environmental issues including air and water pollution, climate change, overexploitation of marine ecosystems, exhaustion of fossil resources, and conservation of biodiversity are receiving major attention from the public, stakeholders, and scholars from the local to the planetary scales. It is now clearly recognized that human activities yield major ecological and environmental stresses with irreversible loss of species, destruction of habitat, or climate catastrophes as the most dramatic examples of their effects.

The main approaches presented in the book are equilibrium and stability, viability and invariance, intertemporal optimality ranging from discounted utilitarian to Rawlsian criteria. For these methods, both deterministic, stochastic, and robust frameworks are examined. The case of imperfect information is also introduced at the end. The book mixes well-known material and applications with new insights, especially from viability and robust analysis.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction To Sustainable Environmental Science 1

1.1 What Is Environmental Science? 1

1.1.1 Natural Science 1

1.1.2 Environmental Science 1

1.1.3 Quantitative Environmental Science 1

1.2 What Is Environmental Engineering? 3

1.2.1 Engineering 3

1.2.2 Environmental Engineering 3

1.3 Historical Perspective 3

1.3.1 Overview 3

1.3.2 Hydrology 4

1.3.3 Water Treatment 5

1.3.4 Wastewater Treatment 7

1.3.5 Air Pollution Control 8

1.3.6 Solid and Hazardous Waste 9

1.4 Environmental Systems Overview 10

1.4.1 Systems 10

1.4.2 Water Resource Management System 11

1.4.3 Wastewater Disposal Subsystem 13

1.4.4 Air Resource Management System 16

1.4.5 Solid Waste Management System 17

1.4.6 Sustainability 18

1.5 Environmental Legislation And Regulation 19

1.5.1 Acts, Laws, and Regulations 19

1.6 Environmental Ethics 21

1.6.1 Case: To Add or Not to Add 21

1.7 Exercise 22

1.8 References 24

2 Ecosystems 27

2.1 Introduction to Ecosystems 27

2.2 Human Influences On Ecosystems 28

2.3 Energy And Mass Flow 29

2.3.1 Bioaccumulation 33

2.4 Nutrient Cycles 35

2.4.1 Carbon Cycle 35

2.4.2 Nitrogen Cycle 37

2.4.3 Phosphorus Cycle 39

2.4.4 Sulfur Cycle 39

2.5 Population Dynamics 40

2.5.1 Bacterial Population Growth 41

2.5.2 Animal Population Dynamics 41

2.5.3 Human Population Dynamics 42

2.6 Lakes: An Example Of Mass And Energy Cycling In An Ecosystem 44

2.6.1 Stratification and Turnover in Deep Lakes 44

2.6.2 Biological Zones 45

2.6.3 Limnetic Zone 45

2.6.4 Euphotic Zone 46

2.6.5 Littoral Zone 46

2.6.6 Benthic Zone 46

2.6.7 Lake Productivity 46

2.6.8 Oligotrophic Lakes 47

2.6.9 Eutrophic Lakes 47

2.6.10 Mesotrophic Lakes 48

2.6.11 Dystrophic Lakes 48

2.6.12 Hypereutrophic Lakes 48

2.6.13 Senescent Lakes 49

2.6.14 Eutrophication 49

2.7 Environmental Laws To Protect Ecosystems 50

2.8 Exercise 51

2.9 References 53

3 Risk Perception, Assessment, And Management 56

3.1 Introduction 56

3.2 Risk Perception 56

3.3 Risk Assessment 57

3.3.1 Data Collection and Evaluation 58

3.3.2 Toxicity Assessment 58

3.3.3 Limitations of Animal Studies 60

3.3.4 Limitations of Epidemiological Studies 61

3.3.5 Exposure Assessment 61

3.3.6 Risk Characterization 62

3.4 Risk Management 63

3.5 Exercise 63

3.6 References 64

4 Sustainability 66

4.1 Introduction 66

4.1.1 Sustainability 66

4.1.2 The People Problem 67

4.1.3 There Are No Living Dinosaurs 68

4.1.4 Go Green 69

4.2 Water Resources 70

4.2.1 Frequency from Probability Analysis 70

4.2.2 Floods 71

4.2.3 Acquisition and Relocation 75

4.2.4 Droughts 75

4.2.5 Regional Water Resource Limitations 77

4.2.6 Drought and Sustainability 81

4.2.7 Droughts and Green Engineering 82

4.2.8 Drought Response Planning 82

4.2.9 Water Conservation Planning and Implementation 83

4.2.10 Green Engineering in Metropolitan Areas 83

4.2.11 Green Engineering and Water Utilities 84

4.3 Energy Resources 85

4.3.1 Fossil Fuel Reserves 86

4.3.2 Tar Sands 87

4.3.3 Shale Gas 88

4.3.4 Nuclear Energy Resources 88

4.3.5 Environmental Impacts Waste from Resource Extraction 89

4.3.6 Waste in Energy Production 90

4.3.7 Terrain Effects 91

4.3.8 Unresolved Environmental Concerns 91

4.3.9 Sustainable Energy Sources 92

4.3.10 Hydropower 92

4.3.11 Biofuels from Biomass 93

4.3.12 Wind 95

4.3.13 Solar 95

4.3.14 Hydrogen 96

4.3.15 Green Engineering and Building Operation 97

4.3.16 Green Engineering and Transportation 97

4.3.17 Green Engineering and Water and Wastewater Supply 98

4.4 Mineral Resources 99

4.4.1 Phosphorus 99

4.4.2 Environmental Impacts Energy 99

4.4.3 Waste 99

4.4.4 Terrain Effects 100

4.4.5 Resource Conservation 100

4.4.6 Reduced Consumption 100

4.4.7 Recycling 101

4.5 Soil Resources 102

4.5.1 Energy Storage 102

4.5.2 Plant Production 102

4.6 Parameters Of Soil Sustainability 103

4.6.1 Soil Acidity 104

4.6.2 Soil Salinity 104

4.6.3 Texture and Structure 105

4.7 Soil Conservation 105

4.7.1 Soil Management 105

4.7.2 Soil Fertility 105

4.7.3 Structural Form and Stability 106

4.7.4 Soil Erosion 106

4.7.5 Erosion by Water 108

4.7.6 Erosion by Wind 108

4.7.7 Conservation Measures 109

4.8 Exercise 109

4.9 Reference 110

5 Environmental Management Approaches 114

5.1 Introduction 114

5.2 Environmental Management Focus And Stance 115

5.3 Participatory Environmental Management 118

5.4 Adaptive Environmental Management And Adaptive Environmental Management And Assessment 119

5.5 Expert Systems And Environmental Management 120

5.6 Decision Support For Environmental Management 120

5.7 Systems Or Network Approaches 121

5.8 Local, Community, Regional And Sectoral Environmental Management 121

5.9 The State And Environmental Management 121

5.10 Transboundary And Global Environmental Management 122

5.11 Integrated Environmental Management 122

5.12 Strategic Environmental Management 123

5.13 Stance And Environmental Management 124

5.14 Political Ecology Approach To Environmental Management 126

5.15 Political Economy Approach To Environmental Management 126

5.16 Human Ecology Approach To Environmental Management 127

5.17 The Best Approach? 127

5.18 Exercise 128

5.19 References 128

6 Standards, Monitoring, Modeling, Auditing, And

Co-Ordination 130

6.1 Introduction 130

6.2 Data 132

6.3 Standards, Indicators, And Benchmarks 133

6.4 Sustainable Development Indicators 137

6.5 Setting Goals And Objectives 138

6.6 Monitoring 140

6.7 Surveillance 142

6.8 Modelling 143

6.9 Environmental Auditing, Environmental Accounting,

And Eco-Auditing 144

6.10 Eco-audit 146

6.10.1 Sustainability Assessment 150

6.11 Environmental Assessment And Evaluation 150

6.11.1 Eco-foot Printing 150

6.12 Environmental Management Decision Making 151

6.13 Seeking A Strategic View 152

6.14 Prompting Environmental Management 152

6.15 Exercise 153

6.16 References 154

7 Participants In Environmental Management 155

7.1 Introduction 155

7.2 Learning From Past Peoples 156

7.3 Millennium Development Goals 157

7.4 Global Change And People 157

7.5 Stakeholders 157

7.5.1 Stakeholder Analysis And Stakeholder Management 158

7.5.2 Indigenous Groups 158

7.5.3 Women 159

7.6 Individuals And Groups Seeking Change 161

7.7 Individuals And Groups With Little Power 161

7.7.1 The Poor 161

7.7.2 Displaced People 162

7.8 Public 164

7.8.1 Participatory Environmental Management 164

7.9 Facilitators 166

7.9.1 Funding And Research Bodies 166

7.9.2 Communications 167

7.10 Controllers 168

7.10.1 Traditions And Spirituality 168

7.10.2 Accreditation 169

7.10.3 International Bodies and NGOs 169

7.11 Exercise 170

7.12 References 171

8 Global Challenges 172

8.1 Introduction 172

8.2 Identifying The Challenges 174

8.3 Transboundary Issues 174

8.3.1 Transboundary Issues Caused Or Affected

By Human Activity 176

8.3.2 Global Warming 179

8.3.3 Hazardous Waste 181

8.3.4 Transboundary Issues Caused by Natural Processes 182

8.4 Future Priorities 183

8.4.1 Reduce Vulnerability 187

8.4.2 Sustainable Development 189

8.4.3 Cut poverty 189

8.5 Exercise 190

8.6 References 191

9 Environment Management: Pollution And Waste 192

9.1 Introduction 192

9.2 A Brief History Of Pollution And Waste Problems 194

9.3 Pollution And Waste Associated With Urbanization

And Industry 196

9.4 Radioactive Waste And Pollution 204

9.5 Electromagnetic Radiation (Non-Ionising) 206

9.6 Treating Pollutants And Waste 207

9.7 Agricultural Problems 209

9.7.1 Chemical Fertilizers 209

9.7.2 Pesticides 211

9.7.3 Agricultural Waste 214

9.7.4 Recycling and Reuse of Waste 216

9.8 Exercise 217

9.9 References 218

10 Recycling Waste Materials & Hazardous

Waste Management 219

10.1 Recycling Waste Materials 219

10.2 Hazardous Waste Management 225

10.2.1 Historical Overview 225

10.2.2 Hazardous Waste Defined 226

10.2.3 Managing Wastes 227

10.2.4 Treatment/Destruction Technology 232

10.2.5 Disposal Technology 235

10.2.6 Remediation Technologies 237

10.3 Exercise 242

10.4 References 243

11 The Future 245

11.1 Introduction 245

11.2 Key Challenges And New Supports 245

11.3 Looking At The Future 249

11.4 The 1992 Un Conference On Environment And

Development, Rio De Janeiro, Agenda 21, And

Follow-Up Meetings 250

11.5 Post-Cold War Environmental Management 250

11.6 Politics And Ethics To Support Environmental Management 252

11.7 Closing Note 255

11.8 References 257

Glossary 259

Index 294

Chapter 1. Introduction To Sustainable Environmental Science

1.1 What Is Environmental Science?

1.1.1 Natural Science

In the broadest sense, science is systematized knowledge derived from and tested by recognizing and diagnosing a problem, collecting data through observation and experimentation. We differentiate between social science and natural science. The former deals with the study of people and how they live together as families, tribes, communities, races, and nations—the latter deals with studying nature and the physical world. Natural science includes such diverse disciplines as biology, chemistry, geology, physics, and environmental science.

1.1.2 Environmental Science

Whereas the disciplines of biology, chemistry, and physics are focused on a particular aspect of natural science, environmental science, in its broadest sense, encompasses all the fields of natural science. The historical focus of study for environmental scientists has been, of course, the natural environment. By this, we mean the atmosphere, the land, the water, and their inhabitants as differentiated from the built environment. Modern environmental science has also found applications to the built environment or, perhaps more correctly, to the built environment’s effusions.

1.1.3 Quantitative Environmental Science

Science or, perhaps more correctly, the scientific method deals with data, that is, with recorded observations. The data are, of course, a sample of the universe of possibilities. They may be representative, or they may be skewed. Even if they are representative, they will contain some random variation that cannot be explained with current knowledge. Care and impartiality in gathering and recording data and independent verification are the cornerstones of science.

When the collection and organization of data reveal certain regularities, it may be possible to formulate a generalization or hypothesis. This is merely a statement that under certain circumstances, certain phenomena can generally be observed. Many generalizations are statistical. They apply accurately to large assemblages but are no more than probabilities when applied to smaller sets or individuals.

In a scientific approach, the hypothesis is tested, revised, and repeatedly tested until proven acceptable.

If we can use certain assumptions to tie together a set of generalizations, we formulate a theory. For example, theories that have gained acceptance over a long time are known as laws.

Some examples are the laws of motion, which describe moving bodies’ behavior, and gas laws, which describe gases’ behavior. The development of a theory is an important accomplishment because it yields a tremendous consolidation of knowledge. Furthermore, a theory gives us a powerful new tool in acquiring knowledge. It shows us where to look for new generalizations. Thus, data accumulation becomes less of a magpie collection of facts and more of a systematized hunt for needed information. It is the existence of classification and generalization, and above all theory that makes science an organized body of knowledge.

Logic is a part of all theories. The two types of logic are qualitative and quantitative logic. Qualitative logic is descriptive. For example, we can qualitatively state that when the amount of wastewater entering a certain river is too high, the fish die. With qualitative logic, we cannot identify what too high means—we need quantitative logic to do that. When the data and generalizations are quantitative, we need mathematics to provide a theory that shows the quantitative relationships. For example, a quantitative statement about the river might state that When the mass of organic matter entering a certain river equals x kilograms per day, the amount of oxygen in the stream is y. Perhaps more importantly, quantitative logic enables us to explore ‘What if?’ questions about relationships. For example, "If we reduce the amount of organic matter entering the stream,

How much will the amount of oxygen in the stream increase?" Furthermore, theories, particularly mathematical theories, often enable us to bridge the gap between experimentally controlled observations and observations made in the field. For example, suppose we control the amount of oxygen in a fish tank in the laboratory. In that case, we can determine the minimum amount required for the fish to be healthy. We can then use this number to determine the acceptable mass of organic matter placed in the stream.

Given that environmental science is an organized body of knowledge about environmental relationships, then quantitative environmental science is an organized collection of mathematical theories that may be used to describe and explore environmental relationships. In this book, we introduce some mathematical theories that may be used to describe and explore relationships in environmental science.

1.2 What Is Environmental Engineering?

1.2.1 Engineering

Engineering is a profession that applies science and mathematics to make the properties of matter and sources of energy use in structures, machines, products, systems, and processes.

1.2.2 Environmental Engineering

The Environmental Engineering Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has published the following statement of purpose that may be used to show the relationship between environmental science and environmental engineering: Environmental engineering is manifest by sound engineering thought and practice in the solution of problems of environmental sanitation, notably in the provision of safe, palatable, and ample public water supplies; the proper disposal of or recycle of wastewater and solid wastes; the adequate drainage of urban and rural areas for proper sanitation; and the control of water, soil, and atmospheric pollution, and the social and environmental impact of these solutions.

Furthermore, it is concerned with engineering problems in the field of public health, such as control of arthropod-borne diseases, the elimination of industrial health hazards, and the provision of adequate sanitation in urban, rural, and recreational areas, and the effect of technological advances on the environment (ASCE, 1977). Environmental science and environmental engineering should be confused with heating, ventilating, air conditioning (HVAC), or landscape architecture. Neither should they be confused with the architectural nor structural engineering functions associated with built environments, such as homes, offices, and other workplaces.

1.3 Historical Perspective

1.3.1 Overview

Recognizing that environmental science has its roots in the natural sciences and that the most rudimentary forms of generalization about natural processes are as old as civilizations, environmental science is very old. Certainly, the Inca cultivation of crops and the mathematics of the Maya and Sumerians qualify as early applications of natural science. Likewise, the Egyptian prediction and regulation of the annual floods of the Nile demonstrate that environmental engineering works are as old as civilization. On the other hand, if you asked Archimedes or Newton or Pasteur what field of environmental engineering and science they worked in, they would have given you a puzzled look indeed! For that matter, even as late as 1687, the word science was not in vogue; Mr. Newton’s treatise alludes only to Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematics (Natural Philosophy and Mathematical Principles).

Engineering and the sciences as we recognize them today began to blossom in the 18th century. The foundation of environmental engineering as a discipline may be considered to coincide with forming the various societies of civil engineering in the mid-1800s (e.g., the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1852). In the first instances and well into the 20th century, environmental engineering was known as sanitary engineering because of its roots in water purification.

The name changed in the late 1960s and early 1970s to reflect the broadening scope that included efforts to purify water and air pollution, solid waste management, and the many other aspects of environmental protection included in the environmental engineer’s current job description. Although we might be inclined to date the beginnings of environmental science to the 18th century, the reality is that at any time before the 1960s, there was virtually no reference to environmental science in the literature.

Although the concepts of ecology had been firmly established by the 1940s and certainly more than one individual played a role, perhaps the harbinger of environmental science as we know it today was Rachel Carson and, in particular, her book Silent Spring. By the mid-1970s, environmental science was firmly established in academia. By the 1980s, recognized subdisciplines (environmental chemistry, environmental biology, etc.) that characterize the older sciences of natural sciences emerged.

1.3.2 Hydrology

Citations for the following section originally appeared in Chow’s Handbook of Applied Hydrology (1964). The modern science of hydrology may be considered to have begun in the 17th century with measurements. Measurements of rainfall, evaporation, and capillarity in the Seine were taken by Perrault (1678). Mariotte (1686) computed the flow in the Seine after measuring the cross-section of the channel and the velocity of the flow. The 18th century was a period of experimentation.

The predecessors for some of our current tools for measurement were invented in this period. These include Bernoulli’s piezometer, the Pitot tube, Woltman’s current meter, and the Borda tube. Chézy proposed his equation to describe uniform flow in open channels in 1769. The grand era of experimental hydrology was the 19th century. The knowledge of geology was applied to hydrologic problems. Hagen (1839) and Poiseulle (1840) developed the equation to describe capillary flow; Darcy published his law of groundwater flow (1856). Dupuit developed a formula for predicting flow from a well (1863).

During the 20th century, hydrologists moved from empiricism to theoretically based explanations of hydrologic phenomena. For example, Hazen (1930) implemented the use of statistics in hydrologic analysis, Horton (1933) developed the method for determining rainfall excess based on infiltration theory, and Theis (1935) introduced the non-equilibrium theory of hydraulics of wells. The advent of high-speed computers at the end of the 20th century led to the use of finite element analysis for predicting the migration of contaminants in soil.

1.3.3 Water Treatment

The provision of water and the necessity of carrying away wastes were recognized in ancient civilizations: a sewer in Nippur, India, was constructed about 3750 B.C.E.; a sewer dating to the 26th century B.C.E. was identified in Tel Asmar near Baghdad, Iraq. Herschel (1913), in his translation of a report by Roman water commissioner Sextus Frontinus, identified nine aqueducts that carried over 3×105 of water to Rome in 97 A.D. Over the centuries, the need for clean water and a means for wastewater disposal were discovered, implemented, and lost to be rediscovered repeatedly. The most recent rediscovery and social awakening occurred in the 19th century. In England, the social awakening was preceded by a water filtration process installed in Paisley, Scotland, in 1804 and the Chelsea Water Company’s entrepreneurial endeavors, which installed filters to improve the quality of the Thames River water in 1829.

Construction of the large Parisian sewers began in 1833, and W. Lindley supervised the construction of sewers in Hamburg, Germany, in 1842. The social awakening was led by physicians, attorneys, engineers, statesmen, and even the writer Charles Dickens. Towering above all was Sir Edwin Chadwick, by training a lawyer, by calling a crusader for health. His was the chief voice in the Report from the Poor Law Commissioners on an Inquiry into the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Populations of Great Britain, 1842. As is the case with many leaders of the environmental movement, his recommendations were largely unheeded.

Figure: 1.1- Dr. John Snow (L)

Dr. William Budd (R) (source: Principles of Environmental Engineering by Mackenzie L. Davis Emeritus, Susan J. Masten)

Among the first recognizable environmental scientists were John Snow and William Budd. Their epidemiological research efforts provided a compelling demonstration of the relationship between contaminated water and disease. In 1854, Snow demonstrated the relationship between contaminated water and cholera by plotting the fatalities from cholera and their location with reference to the water supply they used. He found that cholera deaths in one district of London were clustered around the Broad Street Pump, which supplied contaminated water from the Thames River. In 1857, Budd began work that ultimately showed the relationship between typhoid and water contamination. His monograph, published in 1873, described the sequence of events in the propagation of typhoid and provided a succinct set of rules for the prevention of the spread of the disease. These rules are still valid expedients over 133 years later. These two individuals’ work is all the more remarkable in that it preceded the discovery of the germ theory of disease by Koch in 1876.

In the United States, a bold but unsuccessful start on filtration was made at Richmond, Virginia, in 1832. No further installations were made in the United States until after the Civil War. Even then, they were, for the most part, failures. The primary means of purification from the 1830s until the 1880s was plain sedimentation.

It is worthy of note that the American Water Works Association (A.W.W.A.) was established in 1881. This body of professionals joined together to share their knowledge and experience. As with other professional societies and associations formed in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Association’s activities provide a repository for the knowledge and experience gained in purifying water. It was and is an integral part of the continuous improvement in the purification of drinking water. It serves as a venue to present new ideas and challenge ineffective practices. Its journal and other publications provide a means for professionals to keep abreast of advances in the techniques for water purification.

Serious filtration research in the United States began with establishing the Lawrence Experiment Station by the State Board of Health in Massachusetts in 1887. Based on experiments conducted at the laboratory, a slow sand filter was installed in Lawrence’s city and put into operation in 1887.

At about the same time, rapid sand filtration technology began to take hold. In contrast to the failure in Britain, the success here is attributed to the findings of Professors Austen and Wilber at Rutgers University and experiments with a full-scale plant in Cincinnati, Ohio, by George Warren Fuller. Austin and Wilber reported in 1885 that the use of alum as a coagulant, when followed by plain sedimentation, yielded higher quality water than plain sedimentation alone. In 1899, Fuller reported on the results of his research. He combined the coagulation settling process with rapid sand filtration and successfully purified Ohio River water even during its worst conditions. This work was widely disseminated.

The first permanent water chlorination plant anywhere in the world was put into service in Middlekerrke, Belgium, in 1902. This was followed by installations at Lincoln, England, in 1905 and at the Boonton Reservoir for Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1908. Ozonation began about the same time as chlorination. However, until the end of the 20th century, the economics of disinfection by ozonation was not favorable.

Fluoridation of water was first used for municipal water at Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1945. The objective was to determine whether or not the level of dental cavities could be reduced if the fluoride level were raised to levels near those found in the water supplies of populations having a low prevalence of cavities. The results demonstrated that proper fluoridation results in a substantial reduction in tooth decay.

The most recent major technological advance in water treatment is filtration with synthetic membranes. First introduced in the 1960s, membranes became economical for application in special municipal applications in the 1990s.

1.3.4 Wastewater Treatment

Early efforts at sewage treatment involved carrying the sewage to the nearest river or stream. Although the natural biota of the stream did indeed consume and thus treat part of the sewage, in general, the amount of sewage was too large, and the result was an open sewer. In England, the Royal Commission on Rivers Pollution was appointed in 1868. Throughout their six reports, they provided official recognition (in decreasing order of preference) of sewage filtration, irrigation, and chemical precipitation as acceptable treatment methods. At this point, events began to move rather quickly in both the United States and England. The first U.S. treatment of sewage by irrigation was attempted at the State Insane Asylum in August, Maine, in 1872. The first experiments on aeration of sewage were carried out by W. D. Scott-Monctieff at Ashtead, England, in 1882. He used a series of nine trays over which the sewage percolated. After about 2 day’s operation, bacterial growths established themselves on the trays and effectively removed organic waste material. With the Lawrence Laboratory’s establishment in Massachusetts in 1887, work on sewage treatment began in earnest. Among the notables who worked at the laboratory were Allen Hazen, who was in charge of the lab in its formative years, and the team of Ellen Richards and George Whipple, who were among the first to isolate the organisms oxidized nitrogen compounds in wastewater.

In 1895, the British collected methane gas from septic tanks and used it for gas lighting in the treatment plant. After successfully developing the British, the tricking filter was installed in Reading, Pennsylvania, Washington, Pennsylvania, and Columbus, Ohio in 1908.

In England, Arden and Lockett conducted the first experiments that led to developing the activated sludge process in 1914. The first municipal activated sludge plant in the United States was installed in 1916.

The progress of the state of the art of wastewater treatment has been recorded by the Sanitary Engineering Division (later the Environmental Engineering Division) of the American Society of Civil Engineers. It was formed in June 1922. The Journal of the Environmental Engineering Division is published monthly. The Federation of Sewage and Industrial Wastes Association, also known as the Water Pollution Control Federation, was established in October 1928 and published reports on advancing state of the art. Now called the Water Environment Federation (W.E.F.), its journal is Water Environment Research.

1.3.5 Air Pollution Control

Although there were royal proclamations and learned essays about air pollution as early as 1272, these were of note only for their historical value. The first experimental apparatus for clearing particles from the air was reported in 1824. Hohlfeld used an electrified needle to clear the fog in a jar. This effect was rediscovered in 1850 by Guitard and again in 1884 by Lodge.

The latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century were watershed years for the introduction of the forerunners of much of the current technology now in use: fabric filters (1852), cyclone collectors (1895), venturi scrubbers (1899), electrostatic precipitator (1907), and the plate tower for absorption of gases (1916). It is interesting to note that, unlike water and wastewater treatment, where disease and impure water were recognized before the advent of treatment technologies, these developments preceded recognizing the relationship between air pollution and disease.

The Air & Waste Management Association was founded as the International Union for Prevention of Smoke in 1907. The organization grew from its initial 12 members to more than 9000 in 65 countries.

In London, the 1952 air pollution episode that claimed 4000 lives, much like the cholera epidemic of 1849 that claimed more than 43,000 lives in England and Wales, finally stimulated positive legislation and technical attempts to rectify the problem.

The end of the 20th century saw advances in chemical reactor technology to control sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury emissions from fossil-fired power plants. The struggle to control the air pollution from the explosive growth in the use of the automobile for transportation was begun.

Environmental scientists made major discoveries about global air pollution at the end of the 20th century. In 1974, Molina and Rowland identified the chemical mechanisms that cause the destruction of the ozone layer. By 1996, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (I.P.C.C.) agreed that the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate.

1.3.6 Solid and Hazardous Waste

From as early as 1297, there was a legal obligation on householders in London to ensure that the pavement within the frontage of their tenements was kept clear. The authorities found it extremely difficult to enforce the regulations. In 1414, the constables and other officials had to declare their willingness to pay informers to gather evidence against the offenders who cast rubbish and dirt into the street. The situation improved for a time in 1666. The Great Fire of London had a purifying effect, and for some time, complaints about refuse in the streets ceased. As with previously noted advances in environmental enlightenment, not much success was achieved until the end of the 19th century.

The modern system of refuse collection and disposal instituted in 1875 has been changed little by technology. People still accompany a wheeled vehicle and load it, usually by hand. The material is taken to be dumped or burned. The horses formerly used have been replaced by an internal-combustion engine that has not greatly increased collection speed. In fact, to some extent, the crew’s productivity fell because, while a horse can move on command, a motor vehicle has to have a driver, who usually does not take part in the collection process. At the end of the 20th century, one-person crews with automated loading equipment began to replace multi-person crews.

Incineration was the initial step taken in managing collected solid waste. The first U.S. incinerators were installed in 1885. By 1921, more than two hundred incinerators were operating. With an emphasis on sanitary landfilling, Waste management began in the United Kingdom in the early 1930s. Sanitary landfilling included three criteria: daily soil cover, no open burning, and no water pollution problems.

In the 1970s, the rising environmental movement recognized the need to conserve resources and take special care of wastes that are deemed hazardous because they are ignitable, reactive, corrosive, or toxic. Incineration fell into disrepute because of the difficulty in controlling air pollution emissions. In 1976, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation to focus on resource recovery and conservation as well as the management of hazardous wastes.

1.4 Environmental Systems Overview

1.4.1 Systems

Before we begin in earnest, we thought it worth looking at the problems discussed in this text from a larger perspective. Engineers and scientists like to call this the systems approach, looking at all the interrelated parts and their effects on one another. In environmental systems, it is doubtful that mere mortals can ever hope to identify all the interrelated parts, to say nothing of trying to establish their effects on one another. The first thing the systems engineer or scientist does is simplify the system to a tractable size that behaves in a fashion similar to the real system. The simplified model does not behave in detail as the system does, but it gives a fair approximation of what is going on.

In a later chapter, we’ve introduced the systems of natural science called ecosystems. On a large scale, shown in Figure:1.2, the ecosystem sets a framework for the topics selected for this book: the relationships and interactions of plants and animals with the water, air, and soil that make up their environment. Pollution problems that are confined to one of these systems are called single-medium problems if the medium is either air, water, or soil. Many important environmental problems are not confined to one of these simple systems but cross the boundaries from one to another. Such problems are referred to as multimedia pollution problems.

Figure: 1.2-The earth as an ecosystem (source: Principles of Environmental Engineering by Mackenzie L. Davis Emeritus, Susan J. Masten)

1.4.2 Water Resource