UNIVERSITY OF MAKATI

COLLEGE OF CONSTRUCTION SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING

Sanitary Engineering
1st Semester, AY 2020-2021

MODULE 1 – Introduction to Sanitary/Plumbing Engineering

7 September 2020

LECTURE OUTLINE:

1. Definition of Sanitary and Plumbing Engineering

2. Comparison of Sanitary with Plumbing Trade
3. Role of Sanitary/Plumbing Engineer
4. Environmental systems
5. Environmental tragedies
6. Existing Environmental Laws

I. DEFINITION OF SANITARY AND PLUMBING ENGINEERING

• Sanitary Engineering: The application of engineering principles, under certain constraints, to the protection &
enhancement of the quality of the environment & to the enhancement and protection of public health & welfare
• Plumbing Engineering: designs plumbing systems for private, public, or commercial buildings.

II. COMPARISON OF SANITARY WITH PLUMBING TRADE

• Sanitary Engineering concerns everything outside a building while Plumbing Engineering includes inside a
building/house.
• Sanitary engineers have comprehensive background on public health and competence in designing the water
supply and wastewater systems while master plumbers do not have any knowledge on Public Health and have
just the skill to install the pipes.

III. ROLE OF SANITARY/PLUMBING ENGINEER

• Sanitary engineers do the following tasks:
o Design structures, equipment & systems that would enable:
▪ The protection and enhancement of environmental quality
▪ The protection & enhancement of public health & welfare
▪ Examples:
• Design of Sewage Treatment Plants
• Design of Water Treatment Plants
• Design of Water Supply Systems
• Design of Solid Waste Processing Facilities
• Design of Air Pollution Control Devices
o Analyze operating methods of business firms and public facilities in order to determine their needs for safe
disposal of waste products such as sewage, garbage, trash and waste water.
o Design and propose systems for disposal and treatment of waste products.
o Plan the development of watersheds and the construction of aqueducts, filtration plants and storage and
distribution systems for water supplies. They direct swamp drainage projects.
o Design and control the operation of incinerators, sanitary fills, and garbage reduction plants.
o Advise industrial plants in the reduction of obnoxious gases.
o Inspect public facilities related to public health
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 • Plumbing engineers do the following tasks:
o Design structures, equipment & systems that would enable:
▪ The protection and enhancement of environmental quality
▪ The protection & enhancement of public health & welfare
▪ Examples:
• Design and installation of plumbing systems
• Design and installation of septic tank
• Design and installation of heaters, boilers, etc.
• Design and installation of Cold and Hot water supply systems inside the building/house
o Maintain and repair general plumbing components to include toilets, urinals, faucets, hose bibs, and drains.
o Install, repair, or replace domestic hot and cold water lines.
o Repair and replace steam to hot water exchangers for major building heating systems and pools.
o Repair and replace pneumatic steam valves, radiator valves, traps, and steam and condensate pipes.
o Repair and replace domestic hot water heat pumps, chilled water pumps, sump pumps, and sewage pumps.
o Install, tests, and repair all sizes of backflow prevention devices.
o Lead troubleshooting efforts and repairs steam, water, and gas distribution systems.
o Ensure proper care in the use and maintenance of equipment and supplies; promotes continuous
improvement of workplace safety and environmental practices.

IV. ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS

• System:
o Definition: a set or arrangement of things so related or connected as to form a unit or organic whole
• Types of systems:
o Air Resource Management System
o Solid Waste Management System
o Water Resource Management System
o Multi-Media Systems
• Water-air-land Interactions

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 • Waste cycle in an Agrarian society

• Waste cycle in an Industrialized Society

V. ENVIRONMENTAL TRAGEDIES
1. 1830’s: London, England (Epidemic Cholera)
o Contamination to groundwater
o The disease subsequently spread throughout Europe, including reaching Great Britain for the first time via
the port of Sunderland in late 1831 and London in spring of 1832. Britain enacted several actions to help
curb the spread of the disease, including implementing quarantines and establishing local boards of health.
o But the public became gripped with widespread fear of the disease and distrust of authority figures, most
of all doctors. Unbalanced press reporting led people to think that more victims died in the hospital than

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 their homes, and the public began to believe that victims taken to hospitals were killed by doctors for
anatomical dissection, an outcome they referred to as “Burking.” This fear resulted in several “cholera riots”
in Liverpool.

2. 1948: Donora, Pennsylvania Smog

o Air pollution from industrial plants (steel, wire, zinc plating mills)
o Smog irritated 6000 people; killed 21 people

3. Water Pollution (Philippines)

o Only 10% of sewage is treated; rest goes to rivers, sea (WWF)

4. 1996: MarCopper mining disaster, Marinduque, Philippines

o Leakage of disposal lake resulting in discharge of 1.6 million m3 toxic mine tailings to Boac river
o Contaminated sources of drinking water
o Death of Boac river

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VI. EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS
1. DENR Administrative Order 34 – Revised Water Usage and Classification [1990]
o AIM: to maintain the quality of Philippine waters
o Classifies water bodies according to usage
o Sets out criteria for water quality for surface
2. Pollution Control Decree of 1976
3. DENR Administrative Order 35 – Revised Effluent Regulation of 1990
o Sets out guideline on effluent coming from wastewater treatment plants both from domestic & industrial
sources.
o The standards are set based on the classification of the receiving body of water; i.e. Class AA, Class A,
Class, B, Class C, Class D.
o The carrying capacity of the receiving body of water is being considered as well as its intended purpose.
4. RA 6969 - “An Act to Control Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes” [1990]
o REGULATE, RESTRICT or PROHIBIT the importation, manufacture, processing, handling, storage,
transportation, sale, distribution, use & disposal of all unregulated chemical substances & mixtures that
present unreasonable risk and/or injury to health or the Philippine environment.
o PROHIBITION of entry, transit, as well as storage & disposal of hazardous & nuclear wastes into the country
o Promotes advancement in research studies regarding toxic chemicals.
5. Republic Act 8749 – Clean Air Act of 1999
o Background: Response to the public clamor for government action on worsening air quality conditions
o Bans incineration or burning of wastes which emits poisonous & toxic fumes
o Promotes non-burn technologies for handling, treatment, thermal destruction, utilization, and disposal of
sorted, unrecycled, uncomposted, biomedical and hazardous waste.
6. RA 9003 – Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000
o Background
▪ Need to address worsening garbage problem
▪ Payatas dumpsite tragedy (July 2000)
o Creation of National Solid Waste Management Commission
▪ Private
▪ LGUs
7. RA 9275 – The Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004
o AIM: to protect water bodies from pollution from land-based sources (industries, commercial
establishments, agriculture & household)

REFERENCES:
• Ana, Eliseo V., Jr. (2011), Lecture Slides in Sanitary Engineering 1. Department of Civil Engineering – UPLB.
• Velasco, Perlie (2016), Lecture Slides in Sanitary Engineering 1. Department of Civil Engineering – UPLB.

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