Basics of Environmental Engineering

(ChEg3141)

Prepared by:- Temesgen T.

MAY/2021
 1.1 Introduction

 The term environment (which means surroundings) is viewed differentially by

different environmentalists.

 It is defined as the sum total of all living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components

 It is all of the external factors affecting an organism

 The environment has never been constant or static. It has been changing slowly,
rapidly or drastically.

 All living organisms including human beings are affected by changes in the
environment - the changes may be harmful or beneficial.

 It is well known that many species on the earth (which could not adapt with changing
environment) vanished or are on the brink of extinction (vanishing) due to
environmental changes or factors
 cont’d
A significant example is the extinction of dinosaurs due to

hostile conditions of their environment

It is believed that the main cause of this was attributed to the

newly appeared tiny primitive mammals, which ate the eggs of

dinosaurs.
Thus, for primitive mammals, the environment was favorable

while for dinosaurs it was unfavorable

 Cont’d
 For the past many years, human beings have primarily been responsible for
the changes in the environment.
 Some of these activities are as follows:

 Devastating forests by cutting trees for wood and bringing forest land under
cultivation. This caused erosion of the soil. This activity has been going on
from the past thousands of years.

 Killing the gentle animals for food and the fierce animals due to safety
reasons.

The industrial and scientific revolution in the recent past has a tremendous
effect on the environment. This aspect is mainly responsible for polluting the
water bodies with chemicals from industries, polluting the atmosphere by
various poisonous and harmful gases discharged from industrial
establishments
 Environmental Engineering
Environmental Engineering
Is a profession which covers several major disciplines
including civil engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical
engineering, public health, ecology, chemistry, and
meteorology.
Environmental engineering involves waste water management
and air pollution control, recycling, waste disposal, radiation
protection, industrial hygiene, environmental sustainability,
and public health issues.
It also includes studies on the environmental impact of
proposed construction projects
 Cont’d
Environmental engineering….
Environmental engineering is the integration of
science and engineering principles to improve the
natural environment, to provide healthy water, air,
and land for human habitation and for other
organisms, and to remediate polluted sites.
 1.2 Components of Environment
 The environment is comprised of the following two components:
(i) Abiotic or Non-living components: These include
 Light
 Atmospheric gases
 Precipitation Altitude
 Humidity
 Temperature
 rainfall
 day length
 wind
 ocean currents

(ii) Biotic or living components: These include

Plants (Flora)
Animals including humans, parasites and microorganisms (Fauna)
 Cont’d
The interactions of organisms with biotic and abiotic factors
form an ecosystem.

Even minute changes in any one factor in an ecosystem can

influence whether or not a particular plant or animal species will
be successful in its environment
 1.3 Types of Environment
 Broadly speaking, the environment is of the following two
types:

I. Natural Environment: The components of natural

environment are air, water, soil, radiation, land, forest,
wild life, flora and fauna etc.
II. Man-made Environment: These include transportation,
housing, agricultural implements and industries, dams,
energy such as hydro, thermal and nuclear energy etc.
 1.4 Segments of Environment

 The environment comprises of the

following four segments:
(i) Atmosphere
(ii) Hydrosphere
(iii) Lithosphere
(iv) Biosphere
 1.4.1 Atmosphere
The cover of air that envelops the earth is known as the
atmosphere. It is responsible for sustaining life on earth.

It protects the earth from the harmful ultraviolet rays coming
from the sun.

It contains life-supporting gases like oxygen for human beings

and animals and carbon dioxide for plants to help in carrying out
the process of photosynthesis

The presence of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide is of great

importance, as these gases keep on cycling in nature between
organisms and the atmosphere through various cycles such as the
carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, water cycle et
 Major Regions of Atmosphere
The atmosphere extends up to about 500 km above the
earth’s surface.
It is divided into four major regions depending on the height
as shown in Table below .
 1.4.2 Hydrosphere
It covers more than two-thirds of the earth’s surface either as
oceans (salt water) or as fresh water and includes seas, rivers,
oceans, lakes, ponds etc.
The oceans account for about 97% of earth’s water supply. This
water is unfit for consumption due to its high salt content.
The polar ice caps and glaciers account for about 2% of the
remaining water. Fresh potable water is available only to the
extent of about 1% in rivers, lakes and as ground water.
Due to rapid industrialization, human beings are discharging
waste materials into water bodies like seas, oceans, rivers etc.
This has created serious problems for the survival of life not only
on the land but also in water.
 1.4.3 Lithosphere
The upper most layer up to 400 km of the earth's surface is
called lithosphere. It is the region which interacts with
hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere

About three-fourth of the surface of lithosphere is covered by

water. The earth comprises of three layers viz. crust, mantle and
outer and inner core (see Fig.1.1).

The core is the central fluid sphere having a diameter of about

2500 km. It is composed of mainly nickel and iron. The mantle
extends about 2900-3000 km above the core and is also in the
molten state
 Cont’d
The crust is the outermost solid portion of the earth. It is about
8-40 km above the mantle.
The surface of the earth is covered with the soil and it is the
most important part of lithosphere from the point of view of
environment
The lithosphere is helpful in the metabolic processes of
organisms by
I. providing most of the necessary minerals
II. forming soil needed by plants
Fig. 1.1: Layers of Earth
 1.4.4 Biosphere
Biosphere is that region where lithosphere, hydrosphere and
atmosphere all are present and where life (or living
organisms) can exist. It is defined as the thin layer of soil,
rock, water and air that surround the earth, along with the
living things exist.

Fig. 1.2: Representation of the
biosphere
 Cont’d
As seen in the Fig. 1.2, biosphere is the area of contact
between the three components i.e. atmosphere, hydrosphere
and lithosphere.

It is extremely important for life, as it is here that the entire

life is contained and basic processes of life, the
photosynthesis and respiration occur.

The energy required by the living organisms in the

biosphere comes from the sun and the nutrients necessary
for living organisms come from air, water and soil
 1.5 Environmental Pollution
 Pollution, broadly speaking is defined as the addition of harmful
constituents or substances to water, air or land, which adversely alter
the natural quality of the environment.
The environmental pollution includes air, water and land (or soil)
pollution.
It is believed that there are various factors, such as population
explosion, industrialization, deforestation combined with modem
technology, which are responsible for serious environmental crisis.
Environmental pollution may be natural (which originates from
natural processes such as forest fires, natural organic or inorganic
decays, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes etc.) or it may originate due
to human activities
Some of environmental problems are
 1. Climatic change
Climate change is caused by alterations of the atmospheric
content of carbon dioxide, atmospheric turbidity (aerosol
content), mean global cloudiness, the earth's surface
(deforestation, erosion, extension of arid or desert land,
irrigation, urbanization, and the composition of the
stratosphere).
Climate change adversely affects the standard of living
through, for example reduced crop productivity, and
increased energy consumption,
 2. Eutrophication of waters
Both natural and man-made lakes have suffered from
eutrophication and its effects.
Eutrophication is the term used to describe the availability of
excess nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus compounds and
other agricultural fertilizers) in water bodies result for the
growth of blooms of algae and plants.

Algae and plants themselves deplete the oxygen amount.

Depleted oxygen levels in turn may lead to fish kills and a

range of other effects of reducing biodiversity.
 3. Global Warming
Global warming is the general increase in the earth’s
average tempera­ture caused by the presence of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere.
The burning of the fuels produces gases like carbon dioxide,
methane and nitrous oxides which lead to global warming.
Deforestation is also leading to warmer temperatures.
The hazard of global warming is continuously causing
major damage to the Earth's environment.
 4. Acid Rain
It has been known since that the high concentrations of
HNO3 and H2SO4 in rain are due to the reaction of
water molecules and acidic oxides (NOx and SO2)
emitted by fossil fuel combustion.
In areas where the biosphere is sensitive to acid rain,
there has been ample evidence of the negative effects of
acid rain on freshwater ecosystems.
Elevated acidity is directly harmful to plants, aquatic
animals and infrastructure.
 Cont’d
Most of the environmental pollution arises due to
manufacturing processes, various industries, thermal power
plants, automobiles, agrochemicals etc.

Besides these, we come across noise pollution, thermal

pollution and radioactive pollution. As far as environmental
pollution is concerned, the worst pollutants are those which
are not biodegradable; for example, polymers, plastics, mica
and some agrochemicals like DDT.
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