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Environmental engineering is a professional engineering discipline related to environmental science. It encompasses broad scientific topics like chemistry,biology,ecology,geology,hydraulics,hydrology,microbiology,and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and also improve the health of living organisms and improve the quality of the environment. Environmental engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering and chemical engineering. While on the part of civil engineering,the Environmental Engineering is focused mainly on Sanitary Engineering.
Sewage sludge is the residual,semi-solid material that is produced as a by-product during sewage treatment of industrial or municipal wastewater. The term "septage" also refers to sludge from simple wastewater treatment but is connected to simple on-site sanitation systems,such as septic tanks.
Chemical waste is any excess,unused,or unwanted chemical. Chemical waste may be classified as hazardous waste,non-hazardous waste,universal waste,or household hazardous waste,each of which is regulated separately by national governments and the United Nations. Hazardous waste is material that displays one or more of the following four characteristics:ignitability,corrosivity,reactivity,and toxicity. This information,along with chemical disposal requirements,is typically available on a chemical's Safety Data Sheet (SDS). Radioactive and biohazardous wastes require additional or different methods of handling and disposal,and are often regulated differently than standard hazardous wastes.
Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking,industrial water supply,irrigation,river flow maintenance,water recreation or many other uses,including being safely returned to the environment. Water treatment removes contaminants and undesirable components,or reduces their concentration so that the water becomes fit for its desired end-use. This treatment is crucial to human health and allows humans to benefit from both drinking and irrigation use.
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies,with a negative impact on their uses. It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes,rivers,oceans,aquifers,reservoirs and groundwater. Water pollution results when contaminants mix with these water bodies. Contaminants can come from one of four main sources. These are sewage discharges,industrial activities,agricultural activities,and urban runoff including stormwater. Water pollution may affect either surface water or groundwater. This form of pollution can lead to many problems. One is the degradation of aquatic ecosystems. Another is spreading water-borne diseases when people use polluted water for drinking or irrigation. Water pollution also reduces the ecosystem services such as drinking water provided by the water resource.
Denitrification is a microbially facilitated process where nitrate (NO3−) is reduced and ultimately produces molecular nitrogen (N2) through a series of intermediate gaseous nitrogen oxide products. Facultative anaerobic bacteria perform denitrification as a type of respiration that reduces oxidized forms of nitrogen in response to the oxidation of an electron donor such as organic matter. The preferred nitrogen electron acceptors in order of most to least thermodynamically favorable include nitrate (NO3−),nitrite (NO2−),nitric oxide (NO),nitrous oxide (N2O) finally resulting in the production of dinitrogen (N2) completing the nitrogen cycle. Denitrifying microbes require a very low oxygen concentration of less than 10%,as well as organic C for energy. Since denitrification can remove NO3−,reducing its leaching to groundwater,it can be strategically used to treat sewage or animal residues of high nitrogen content. Denitrification can leak N2O,which is an ozone-depleting substance and a greenhouse gas that can have a considerable influence on global warming.
Wastewater treatment is a process which removes and eliminates contaminants from wastewater. It thus converts it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once back in the water cycle,the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environment. It is also possible to reuse it. This process is called water reclamation. The treatment process takes place in a wastewater treatment plant. There are several kinds of wastewater which are treated at the appropriate type of wastewater treatment plant. For domestic wastewater the treatment plant is called a Sewage Treatment. Municipal wastewater or sewage are other names for domestic wastewater. For industrial wastewater,treatment takes place in a separate Industrial wastewater treatment,or in a sewage treatment plant. In the latter case it usually follows pre-treatment. Further types of wastewater treatment plants include Agricultural wastewater treatment and leachate treatment plants.
Biosolids are solid organic matter recovered from a sewage treatment process and used as fertilizer. In the past,it was common for farmers to use animal manure to improve their soil fertility. In the 1920s,the farming community began also to use sewage sludge from local wastewater treatment plants. Scientific research over many years has confirmed that these biosolids contain similar nutrients to those in animal manures. Biosolids that are used as fertilizer in farming are usually treated to help to prevent disease-causing pathogens from spreading to the public. Some sewage sludge can not qualify as biosolids due to persistent,bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals,radionuclides,and heavy metals at levels sufficient to contaminate soil and water when applied to land.
Environmental technology (envirotech) is the use of engineering and technological approaches to understand and address issues that affect the environment with the aim of fostering environmental improvement. It involves the application of science and technology in the process of addressing environmental challenges through environmental conservation and the mitigation of human impact to the environment.
Industrial wastewater treatment describes the processes used for treating wastewater that is produced by industries as an undesirable by-product. After treatment,the treated industrial wastewater may be reused or released to a sanitary sewer or to a surface water in the environment. Some industrial facilities generate wastewater that can be treated in sewage treatment plants. Most industrial processes,such as petroleum refineries,chemical and petrochemical plants have their own specialized facilities to treat their wastewaters so that the pollutant concentrations in the treated wastewater comply with the regulations regarding disposal of wastewaters into sewers or into rivers,lakes or oceans. This applies to industries that generate wastewater with high concentrations of organic matter,toxic pollutants or nutrients such as ammonia. Some industries install a pre-treatment system to remove some pollutants,and then discharge the partially treated wastewater to the municipal sewer system.
Menachem Elimelech is the Sterling Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Yale University. Elimelech is the only professor from an engineering department at Yale to be awarded the Sterling professorship since its establishment in 1920. Elimelech moved from the University of California,Los Angeles (UCLA) to Yale University in 1998 and founded Yale's Environmental Engineering program.
Triclocarban is an antibacterial chemical once common in,but now phased out of,personal care products like soaps and lotions. It was originally developed for the medical field. Although the mode of action is unknown,TCC can be effective in fighting infections by targeting the growth of bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. Additional research seeks to understand its potential for causing antibacterial resistance and its effects on organismal and environmental health.
Sewage is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged from residences and from commercial,institutional and public facilities that exist in the locality. Sub-types of sewage are greywater and blackwater. Sewage also contains soaps and detergents. Food waste may be present from dishwashing,and food quantities may be increased where garbage disposal units are used. In regions where toilet paper is used rather than bidets,that paper is also added to the sewage. Sewage contains macro-pollutants and micro-pollutants,and may also incorporate some municipal solid waste and pollutants from industrial wastewater.
Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) is a term used by water quality professionals to describe pollutants that have been detected in environmental monitoring samples,that may cause ecological or human health impacts,and typically are not regulated under current environmental laws. Sources of these pollutants include agriculture,urban runoff and ordinary household products and pharmaceuticals that are disposed to sewage treatment plants and subsequently discharged to surface waters.
Oxygenic photogranules (OPGs) are a type of biological aggregate with an approximately spherical form,typically from a millimeter to a centimeter scale. OPGs are characterized by the cloth-like layer of phototrophic organisms,predominantly filamentous cyanobacteria of the order Oscillatoriales. Oxygen production by these phototrophs through photosynthesis is typically coupled to oxygen consumption of heterotrophic biomass,releasing CO2 that is presumably utilised in a syntrophic relationship by autotrophic phototrophs.
The transmission of COVID-19 is the passing of coronavirus disease 2019 from person to person. COVID-19 is mainly transmitted when people breathe in air contaminated by droplets/aerosols and small airborne particles containing the virus. Infected people exhale those particles as they breathe,talk,cough,sneeze,or sing. Transmission is more likely the closer people are. However,infection can occur over longer distances,particularly indoors.
Wastewater surveillance is the process of monitoring wastewater for contaminants. Amongst other uses,it can be used for biosurveillance,to detect the presence of pathogens in local populations,and to detect the presence of psychoactive drugs.
Wastewater-based epidemiology analyzes wastewater to determine the consumption of,or exposure to,chemicals or pathogens in a population. This is achieved by measuring chemical or biomarkers in wastewater generated by the people contributing to a sewage treatment plant catchment. Wastewater-based epidemiology has been used to estimate illicit drug use in communities or populations,but can be used to measure the consumption of alcohol,caffeine,various pharmaceuticals and other compounds. Wastewater-based epidemiology has also been adapted to measure the load of pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 in a community. It differs from traditional drug testing,urine or stool testing in that results are population-level rather than individual level. Wastewater-based epidemiology is an interdisciplinary endeavour that draws on input from specialists such as wastewater treatment plant operators,analytical chemists and epidemiologists.
Lidia Morawska is a Polish–Australian physicist and distinguished professor at the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences,at the Queensland University of Technology and director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (ILAQH) at QUT. She is also co-director of the Australia-China Centre for Air Quality Science and Management,an adjunct professor at the Jinan University in China,and a Vice-Chancellor fellow at the Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE),University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. Her work focuses on fundamental and applied research in the interdisciplinary field of air quality and its impact on human health,with a specific focus on atmospheric fine,ultrafine and nanoparticles. Since 2003,she expanded her interests to include also particles from human respiration activities and airborne infection transmission.
References
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- ↑ "Jordan Peccia named next Head of Benjamin Franklin College". YaleNews. 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
- ↑ "Safety Rules For Sewage Sludge May Be Outdated". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
- ↑ Schiffman, Richard (2017-06-06). "Are Pets the New Probiotic?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-07-10.
- ↑ Dannemiller, K. C.; Mendell, M. J.; Macher, J. M.; Kumagai, K.; Bradman, A.; Holland, N.; Harley, K.; Eskenazi, B.; Peccia, J. (2014-10-06). "Next-generation DNA sequencing reveals that low fungal diversity in house dust is associated with childhood asthma development". Indoor Air. 24 (3): 236–247. Bibcode:2014InAir..24..236D. doi:10.1111/ina.12072. PMC 4048861 . PMID 24883433.
- ↑ Patent: US20230038963A1,Peccia, Jordan&Hegarty, Bridget,"Computer-implemented methods of identifying mold growth",issued 2023-02-09
- ↑ Hegarty, Bridget; Pan, Annabelle; Haverinen-Shaughnessy, Ulla; Shaughnessy, Richard; Peccia, Jordan (2020-12-15). "DNA Sequence-Based Approach for Classifying the Mold Status of Buildings". Environmental Science & Technology. 54 (24): 15968–15975. Bibcode:2020EnST...5415968H. doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c03904. ISSN 0013-936X. PMID 33258367.
- ↑ Tingley, Kim (2020-11-24). "Watching What We Flush Could Help Keep a Pandemic Under Control". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-07-10.
- ↑ "Yale Scientists Use The Sewer System To Track And Predict Changes In Coronavirus Outbreak". Connecticut Public. 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
- ↑ Peccia, Jordan; Zulli, Alessandro; Brackney, Doug E.; Grubaugh, Nathan D.; Kaplan, Edward H.; Casanovas-Massana, Arnau; Ko, Albert I.; Malik, Amyn A.; Wang, Dennis; Wang, Mike; Warren, Joshua L.; Weinberger, Daniel M.; Arnold, Wyatt; Omer, Saad B. (2020-09-18). "Measurement of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater tracks community infection dynamics". Nature Biotechnology. 38 (10): 1164–1167. doi:10.1038/s41587-020-0684-z. ISSN 1546-1696. PMC 8325066 . PMID 32948856.
- ↑ Larsen, David A.; Wigginton, Krista R. (2020-09-21). "Tracking COVID-19 with wastewater". Nature Biotechnology. 38 (10): 1151–1153. doi:10.1038/s41587-020-0690-1. ISSN 1546-1696. PMC 7505213 . PMID 32958959.
- ↑ Brindley, Emily; Courant, Hartford (2020-05-27). "A community's sewage could give early warning of COVID-19 outbreaks, Yale study finds. Here's how". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
- ↑ Morawska, Lidia; Allen, Joseph; Bahnfleth, William; Bluyssen, Philomena M.; Boerstra, Atze; Buonanno, Giorgio; Cao, Junji; Dancer, Stephanie J.; Floto, Andres; Franchimon, Francesco; Greenhalgh, Trisha; Haworth, Charles; Hogeling, Jaap; Isaxon, Christina; Jimenez, Jose L. (2021-05-14). "A paradigm shift to combat indoor respiratory infection". Science. 372 (6543): 689–691. Bibcode:2021Sci...372..689M. doi:10.1126/science.abg2025. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 33986171.
- ↑ Morawska, Lidia; Bahnfleth, William; Bluyssen, Philomena M.; Boerstra, Atze; Buonanno, Giorgio; Dancer, Stephanie J.; Floto, Andres; Franchimon, Francesco; Haworth, Charles; Hogeling, Jaap; Isaxon, Christina; Jimenez, Jose L.; Kurnitski, Jarek; Li, Yuguo; Loomans, Marcel (2023-05-24). "Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Airborne Transmission: Science Rejected, Lives Lost. Can Society Do Better?". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 76 (10): 1854–1859. doi:10.1093/cid/ciad068. ISSN 1537-6591. PMC 10209435 . PMID 36763042.
- ↑ "2018 Microbiology of the Built Environment Conference GRC". www.grc.org. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
