Introduction to Environmental Engineering 3rd Edition

Book Preface

The third edition of Introduction to Environmental Engineering continues to have two unifying themes: material balances and environmental ethics. It also adds more information regarding sustainability, an increasingly important component of engineering practice and intricately intertwined with the two unifying themes.

ORGANIZATION

Part One opens with a brief look at the history and future of environmental engineering and then provides examples of the complex issues that surround identifying and solving environmental problems. It continues by introducing various tools engineers use in making decisions, including technology, benefit/cost, risk, and ethics. The discussion on ethics is brief, serving merely as an introduction to some of the value-laden problems engineers face and providing some background for the discussions throughout the text, but it suggests that ethical decision making is just as important in engineering as technical decision making.

Part Two opens with a review of and introduction to basic concepts: dimensions and units, density, concentration, flow rate, retention time, and approximations. This material leads directly to the introduction of material balances, a theme used throughout the book. The discussion of reactions is similar to what would be covered in an introductory physical chemistry or biochemical engineering course and is followed by ideal reactor theory, similar to material found in a chemical engineering unit operations course but at a level readily understood by freshmen engineering students. The mass balance approach is then applied to energy flow. This part concludes with the recognition that some of the most fascinating reactions occur in ecosystems, and ecosystems are described using the mass balance approach and the reaction kinetics introduced earlier.

Part Three applies the fundamental concepts covered in Part Two to the major areas of environmental engineering. It begins with the quest for clean water. When is water clean enough, and how do we measure water quality characteristics? This discussion is followed by an introduction to water supply and treatment and then wastewater treatment. Because meteorology determines the motion of air pollutants, this topic introduces the section on air pollution. The types and sources of air pollutants of concern are discussed, concluding with the evolution of air quality standards, treatment of emissions, and the dispersion of pollutants. The management of municipal solid waste and hazardous waste are discussed with an emphasis on the need to prevent their generation. Noise pollution is then introduced. The book concludes with an evaluation of the motivations for pursuing green engineering.