Introduction to remaining discharges and sources of toxic
Environmental Engineering
with Waste Management and Control
Environmental Engineering-The application of science and
engineering knowledge and concepts to care for and/or
restore our natural environment and/or solve environmental
problems.
What are environmental issues?
• Three areas:
– air quality
– land quality
– water quality
Poor air quality can lead to:
• smog
• respiratory & other illnesses
• acid rain
• global warming
Air pollutant: A known substance in the air that can cause
harm to humans and the environment.
• nitrogen oxides (NOx)
• sulfur oxides (SOx)
• carbon monoxide (CO)
• carbon dioxide (CO2
Global warming: An increase in the average air temperature
of the Earth.
Greenhouse effect: Heat from the sun gets trapped inside the
glass of a greenhouse and heats up its air.
More carbon dioxide (CO2) being released in the atmosphere
traps more heat.
How do we reduce air pollutants
• carpool
• hybrid cars
• EPA government regulation
• NEW: geologic carbon sequestration
• alternative fuels
• walk, bike or use public transportation
Land pollution: Destruction of the Earth’s surface caused by
human activities and the misuse of natural resources.
Natural resources: Land and raw materials that exist
naturally in the environment undisturbed by humans.
Renewable resource: A natural resource that can be replaced
by a natural process.
Non-renewable resource: A natural resource that cannot be
produced or re-grown or reused
What problems arise from land pollution?
Acid mine drainage Pesticides and herbicides Landfills
Water Quality
• Based on current water quality standards, over 70
percent of our rivers, 68 percent of our estuaries and
60 percent of our lakes now meet legislatively
mandated goals.
• Some of the risks include
– pollutant runoff from agricultural lands
– stormwater flows from cities
• About 40,000 times each year,
sanitary sewers overflow and
release raw sewage to streets and
waterbodies.
Water Pollution
– seepage into ground water from nonpoint
sources
– the loss of habitats such as wetlands.
– we cannot always eat what we catch
because fish flesh is contaminated by the
substances.
– Microbial contamination of drinking water
still presents problems in many
communities.
Point sources are direct discharges to a single point;
– examples include discharges from sewage
treatment plants, injection wells,and some
industrial sources.
Non-point sources are diffused across a broad area and their
contamination cannot be traced to a single discharge point.
– Examples include runoff of excess fertilizers,
herbicides, and insecticides from agricultural
lands and residential areas; oil, grease, and
toxic chemicals from urban runoff and
energy production; and sediment from
improperly managed construction sites, crop
and forest lands, and eroding stream banks.
Environmental Pollution
Accidental release of toxic wastes is usually result of design or
planning failure, bad engineering or incompetent
management
Intended release may be unregulated (the cowboy option) or
condoned by public authorities (best practicable means)
Special Waste
• Controlled by Special Waste Regulations 1996
• Defined in the EC Hazardous Waste List
• Categories are mirrored in the CHIP and COSHH
Regulations and broadly include:
– Explosive, flammable and oxidising
substances
– Irritants and corrosives
– Biohazards (infectious, carcinogenic,
mutagenic, teratogenic)
– Ecotoxics
Clinical Waste
• Should be segregated from general waste
• Separate bins, signage and training should be
provided
• Sharps should go into special sharps containers
Waste Management
• Hierarchy of waste management:
a.) Waste reduction: Not making it in the first place, by
process change and optimising efficiency
b.) Re-use: e.g. of glass bottles and other containers
c.) Recovery of waste. Options include:
- Recycling (e.g. glass, metal, paper)
- Incineration with energy recovery
- Composting
d.) Physical/chemical treatment to reduce bulk and make
hazardous waste safe
e.) Disposal - generally to landfill
• Currently about 70% of controlled waste goes to
landfill and there is an increasing shortage of suitable
landfill sites
ECOLOGY OF LIFE
Concept 1: Events in the natural world are interconnected
Even species that do not interact directly can be connected by
shared environmental features.
Concept 1.2: Ecology is the scientific study of interactions
between organisms and their environment.
Ecology -the scientific study of interactions between different
organisms and between organisms and their environment or
surroundings.
- a branch of biology.
Environmental science incorporates concepts from the natural
sciences (including ecology) and the social sciences, and
focuses on solutions to environmental problems.
A population- A group of individuals of a single species that
live in a particular area and interact with one another.
A community - An association of populations of different
species living in the same area.
An ecosystem - A community of organisms plus the physical
environment in which they live.
All the world’s ecosystems comprise the biosphere—all living
organisms on Earth plus the environments in which they live
Ecology – Scales spatial and temporal
Small spatial scale: Soil microorganisms.
Large spatial scale: Atmospheric pollutants.
Short temporal scale: Leaf response to sunlight.
Long temporal scale: How species change over geologic time.
Natural selection: Individuals with particular adaptations
tend to survive and reproduce at a higher rate than other
individuals.
If the adaptation is heritable, the offspring will tend to have
the same characteristics that gave their parents an
advantage.
As a result, the frequency of those characteristics may
increase in a population over time.
Ecosystem processes: Movement of energy and materials.
Energy enters the community when producers capture energy
from an external source, such as the sun, and uses that energy
to produce food.
Net primary productivity (NPP): Energy that producers
capture by photosynthesis or other means, minus the amount
they lose as heat in cellular respiration.
Energy moves through ecosystems in a single direction only—
it cannot be recycled.
Nutrients are continuously recycled from the physical
environment to organisms and back again.
Nutrient cycle: Cyclic movement of nutrients such as nitrogen
or phosphorus between organisms and the physical
environment.
Life would cease if nutrients were not recycled.
Ecological Interactions between organisms
Competition—when two organisms of the same or different
species attempt to use an ecological resource in the same
place at the same time.
Competition
•Food or Space
•Competition caused by population growth affects many
organisms, including humans
•Limits population size
Niche—the ecological niche involves both the place where an
organism lives and the roles that an organism has in its
habitat.
•A habitat is wear an organism lives. The habitat must
provide a source of food, water and shelter for the organism.
•Niche: The role of the organism. This is largely to do with the
trophic level of the organism.
Limiting Factor - Anything that restricts the number of
individuals in a population.
- Includes living and nonliving features of the
ecosystem
•An abiotic factor can limit the population size if there is too
much or too little of it. Even if there is the right amount of
other factors
Biotic—living factors that influence an ecosystem
Abiotic—non-living factors that influence an ecosystem
Succession
•Natural, gradual changes in the types of species that live in
an area; can be primary or secondary.
–Primary – begins in a place without soil
–Secondary – where soil already exists
Pioneer species
•A group of organisms, such as lichens, found in the primary
stage of succession and that begin an area's soil-building
process
Climax community
•A community that has reached a stable stage of ecological
succession
Biome
•Large geographic areas with similar climates and ecosystems
Predation—one organism captures and feeds on another
organism
1. Predator—one that does the killing
2. Prey—one that is the food
Symbiosis—any relationship in which two species live closely
together
1. Mutualism—both species benefit (WIN-WIN)
Commensalism—one member of the association benefits and
the other is neither helped nor harmed.
(WIN-0)
Parasitism—one organisms lives on or inside another
organism (host) and harms it.
The parasite obtains all or part of its nutritional needs from
the host. (WIN-LOSE)
Example: fleas
Producers
•Makes food by changing light energy of the sun into
chemical energy, or food
•Also called Autotrophs
Producer
- Autotroph - “self” + “feed”
- An organism that obtains organic food molecules without
eating other organisms but by using energy from the sun
or inorganic molecules to make organic molecules
- Remember: This trophic level supports all of the others
The role of producers is to convert energy into a form
useable for other organisms
- Most producers are photosynthetic
Photosynthesis—use light energy to convert carbon dioxide
and water into oxygen and carbohydrates
Chemosynthesis—performed by bacteria, use chemical
energy to produce carbohydrates
1. Organisms in a trophic level use the available energy for life
processes (such as growth, photosynthesis, cellular
respiration, metabolism, etc.)and release some energy as
heat
Remember: Every chemical process that happens in your
body releases heat as a byproduct (ex: burning calories).
2. Rule of 10—only about 10% of the available energy within
a trophic level is transferred to the next higher trophic level
C. Biomass Pyramid—represents the amount of living organic
matter at each trophic level
The pyramids become smaller at the top because around 90%
of the energy is “lost” between each level and only 10% is
available in the body of the organism for transfer to the next
level.

Consumers
•Organisms that do not make their own food
•Also known as HETEROTROPHS
Consumer
- Heterotroph - “other” + “feed”
- An organism that obtains its nutrition by eating other
organisms
- Primary consumer (herbivore) - eats producers e.g. sea
urchin, copepod
- Secondary consumer (carnivore) - eats primary
consumers e.g. wolf eel, herring
- Tertiary consumer - eats secondary consumers e.g. sea
otter, seal
- Quaternary consumer - eats tertiary consumers e.g. killer
whale

Scavengers/Detritivores – feed on the tissue of dead

organisms (both plants and animals)
Omnivores—eat both plants and animals Decomposers—
breaks down dead organic matter

Decomposer - An organism that obtains energy by breaking

down dead organic matter, including dead plants, dead
animals and animal waste, into more simple substances

Examples include: bacteria and fungi L Interconnects all

trophic levels since the organic material making up all living
organisms is eventually broken down lRole of decomposers is
to return valuable nutrients to the system so they can be used
again

Feeding Interactions
Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction—from
the sun or inorganic compounds to autotrophs (producers)
and then to heterotrophs (consumers)

Food Chain—series of steps in which organisms transfer

energy by eating and being eaten
Food Web—network of food chains within an ecosystem
Biomass is a measure of the total dry mass of organisms in a
given area.

Energy Pyramid shows relative amount of energy available at

each trophic level