De La Salle University Dasmarias

College of Engineering, Architecture and Graphics Design & Multimedia

Engineering Department CE/ESE

Environmental Engineering (CEET313)

Preliminary Period
1. Ecological Concepts
1.1 Introduction to Environmental Engineering
WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING?
Environmental Engineering is a profession that applies mathematics and science to utilize properties of
matter and sources of energy in the solution of problems of environmental sanitation. These include the
provision of safe, palatable, and ample public water supplies; 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 arthropodborne 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.
Environmental Engineering is not concerned primarily with heating, ventilating, or air conditioning
(HVAC), nor is it not concerned primarily with landscape architecture. Neither should it be confused with
the architectural and structural engineering functions associated with built environments, such as homes,
offices, and other workplaces.
Historically, environmental engineering has been a specialty area of civil engineering. Today it is still
primarily associated with civil engineering in academic curricula. However, especially at the graduate
level, students may come from a multitude of other disciplines, such as chemical, bio-systems, electrical,
and mechanical engineering as well as biochemistry, microbiology and soil science.
Professional Development
The beginning of professional development for environmental engineers is the successful attainment of
the baccalaureate degree. For continued development, a degree in engineering from a program accredited
by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) provides a firm foundation for
professional growth. Other steps in the progression of professional development are:
Achievement of the title Requirements and Successful Completion of the following
a. Engineer in Training - Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination
b. Professional Engineer - Four years of applicable Engineering Experience / Principles and Practice
of Engineering (PE) exam
c. Board Certified Environmental Engineer (BCEE) - 8 years of experience and Written
Certification Examination Or 16 years of experience or Oral Examination
FE and PE exams are developed and administered by the National Council of Examiners for Engineers
and Surveying (NCEES). The BCEE exams are administered by the American Academy of
Environmental Engineering (AAEE).
Environmental Ethics
Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings
to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its non-human contents.1
There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. For example:
a. Should humans continue to clear cut forests for the sake of human consumption?
b. Why should humans continue to propagate its species, and life itself?2

School Year 2016-2017, First Semester

De La Salle University Dasmarias

College of Engineering, Architecture and Graphics Design & Multimedia

Engineering Department CE/ESE

Environmental Engineering (CEET313)

c. Should humans continue to make gasoline powered vehicles?

d. What environmental obligations do humans need to keep for future generations?
e. Is it right for humans to knowingly cause the extinction of a species for the convenience of
humanity?
f. How should humans best use and conserve the space environment to secure and expand life? 3
Water Resource Management System
Water Supply Subsystem. The nature of the water source commonly determines the planning, design, and
operation of the collection, purification, transmission, and distribution works4.
The two major sources used to supply community and industrial needs are referred to as surface water and
ground water. Streams, lakes, and rivers are surface water sources. Groundwater sources are those
pumped from wells.

Figure 1-2 depicts and extension of the water resource system to serve a small community.

School Year 2016-2017, First Semester

De La Salle University Dasmarias

College of Engineering, Architecture and Graphics Design & Multimedia

Engineering Department CE/ESE

Environmental Engineering (CEET313)

Wastewater Disposal Subsystem. Safe disposal of all human wastes is

necessary to protect the health of the individual, the family, and the
community and also to prevent the occurrence of certain nuisances.
To accomplish satisfactory results, human wastes must be disposed of
so that:
a. They will not contaminate any drinking water supply
b. They will not give rise to a public health hazard by being
accessible to vectors (insects, rodents, or other possible carriers) that
may come into contact with food or drinking water.
c. They will not give rise to a public health hazard by being
accessible to children.
d. They will not cause violation of laws or regulations governing
water pollution or sewage disposal
e. They will not pollute or contaminate the waters of any bathing
beach, shellfish-breeding ground or stream used for public or domestic
water-supply purposes, or for recreational purposes.
f. They will not give rise to a nuisance due to odor or unsightly
appearance.

Figure 1-3 Wastewater Subsystem.

Air Resource Management System
Our air resource differs from our water resource in two important aspects. The first is in regard to
quantity. Whereas engineering structures are required to provide an adequate water supply, air is
delivered free of charge in whatever quantity we desire. The second aspect is in regard to quality. Unlike
water, which can be treated before we use it, it is impractical to go about with a gas mask on to treat
impure air and with ear plugs to keep out noise.
The balance of cost and benefit to obtain desired quality of air is termed air resource management. CostBenefit analysis can be problematic for at least two reasons. First is the question of what is the desired air
quality. The basic objective is, of course, to protect the health and welfare of people. But how much air
pollution can we stand? We know the tolerable limit is something greater than zero, but tolerance varies
from person to person. Second is the question of cost versus benefit. We know that we dont want to
spend the entire Gross Domestic Product to ensure that no individuals health or welfare is impaired, but
we do know that we want to spend some amount. Although the cost of control can be reasonably
determined by standard engineering and economic means, the cost of pollution is still far from being
quantitatively assessed.
Solid Waste Management System
In the past, solid waste was considered a resource, and we will examine its current potential as a resource.
Generally, however, solid waste is considered a problem to be solved as cheaply as possible rather than a
resource to be recovered.
While typhoid and cholera epidemics of the mid-1800s spurred water resource management efforts, and
while air pollution episodes have prompted better air resource management, we have yet to feel the

School Year 2016-2017, First Semester

De La Salle University Dasmarias

College of Engineering, Architecture and Graphics Design & Multimedia

Engineering Department CE/ESE

Environmental Engineering (CEET313)

impact of material or energy shortages severe enough to encourage modern solid waste management. The
landfill crisis of the 1980s appears to have abated in the early 1990s due to new or expanded landfill
capacity and to many initiatives to reduce the amount of solid waste generated. By 1999, more than 9,000
curbside recycling programs served roughly half of the U.S. population.
Multimedia System
Many environmental problems cross the air-water-soil boundary. An example is acid rain that results
from the emission of sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. These pollutants are washed
out of the atmosphere thus cleansing it, but in turn polluting waster and changing the soil chemistry,
which ultimately results in the death of fish and trees. Thus, our historic reliance on the natural cleansing
process if the atmosphere in designing air-pollution-control equipment has failed to deal with the
multimedia nature of the problem. Likewise, disposal of solid waste by incineration results in air
pollution, which in turn is controlled by scrubbing with water, resulting in a water pollution problem.
Three lessons have come to us from our experience with multimedia problems. First, it is dangerous to
develop models that are too simplistic. Second, environmental engineers must use a multimedia approach
and, in particular, work with a multidisciplinary team to solve environmental problems. Third, the best
solution to environmental pollution is to waste minimization-if waste is not produced, it does not need to
be treated or disposed of.
Environmental Agencies
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is one of the many agencies that work with
environmental engineers to solve key issues. An important component of EPAs mission is to protect and
improve air, water, and overall environmental quality in order to avoid or mitigate the consequences of
harmful effects.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that
sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental
dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative
advocate for the global environment.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is the executive department of the Philippine
government responsible for governing and supervising the exploration, development, utilization, and
conservation of the country's natural resources.
The Laguna Lake Development Authority abbreviated as LLDA is one of the attached agencies of the
Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources responsible in the preservation,
development and sustainability of the Laguna de Bay and its 21 major tributary rivers.
The National Water Resources Board (NWRB) is the leading government agency for the water sector in
the Philippines, regarding water resources and potable water; it is conferred with policy-making,
regulatory and quasi-judicial functions within the Philippine government. The NWRB is an attached
agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and responsible for ensuring the
optimum exploitation, utilization, development, conservation and protection of the country's water
resource, consistent with the principles of "Integrated Water Resource Management". The NWRB Board
is composed of five cabinet secretaries, plus a representative from academia and the NWRB's executive
director; the board is chaired by the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources.
The Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission is a state commission in charge of the rehabilitation of Pasig

School Year 2016-2017, First Semester

De La Salle University Dasmarias

College of Engineering, Architecture and Graphics Design & Multimedia

Engineering Department CE/ESE

Environmental Engineering (CEET313)

River. The body was created on January 1999 through Executive Order 54 to strengthen the government's
program to rehabilitate the river for transportation, recreation and tourism purposes. Private companies
were given a license to coordinate with the commission concerning the rehabilitation program through the
amendment of Executive Order 65.
References
1

plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-environmental/
Mautner, Michael N. (2009). "Life-centered ethics, and the human future in space" (PDF). Bioethics. 23:
433440. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8519.2008.00688.x. PMID 19077128.
3
Mautner, Michael N. (2000). Seeding the Universe with Life: Securing Our Cosmological Future (PDF).
Washington D. C.: Legacy Books. ISBN 0-476-00330-X.
4
Works is a noun used in the plural to mean engineering structures
Introduction to environmental engineering Fifth Edition by Mackensie Leo Davis and David Cornwell,
2013 ed.
2

School Year 2016-2017, First Semester