THE ENVIRONMENT

What is environment?

Environment is defined as everything that environs (surrounds) us. Each

organism, from the lowest microorganism to the highest, including man has its own
environment. All the conditions and influences which directly or indirectly affects
development of life is part of the environment. However, the perception of environment
varies from every man for it has multi-dimensional aspects. For example, a man may view
his environment as a scenic landscape while to others it can be an industrial pollution.
The environment also performs many functions in relation to man and these functions
may not be discharged properly due to the stress brought by the occurring man-made
activities. (De & De, 2009)

BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC ENVIRONMENT

The environment consists broadly of two components—Physical or abiotic

environment and Living or biotic environment.

Physical or Abiotic Environment

The abiotic environment consists of physical (non-living) factors that influence life
and has three major components:

1. Atmosphere- the layer of gases that surrounds the earth

2. Hydrosphere- the water on or surrounding the surface of the earth. (e.g. seas,
rivers and oceans)
3. Lithosphere – the rigid outer part of the earth consisting the crust and the solid
outermost layer of the upper mantle.

Living or Biotic Environment

Environment

Physical or Living or
abiotic biotic

Biosphere
Atmosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere (Plants,
Microbes,
Animals, Man)
Figure 1: The Environment

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 It consists of all the living things including plants, animals, human beings and
micro-organisms.
All these constituents of environment are referred to as the environmental factors
or an ecological factor. They are in dynamic state and constantly depend and affect each
other.

MAN-NATURE INTERACTION

Man is at the centre of the biosphere in dynamic equilibrium with other segments
of the environment—air, water and land. His daily life is heavily dependent on his natural
environment—he gets food from soil, fruits and timber from trees, medicines from plants,
meat from birds and animals, fish from ponds, rivers and seas, water for daily use from
springs, rivers and ground water.
With the help of science and technology, man overcame the natural barriers and
established his supremacy over Nature. He can travel from one part of the world to the
other, in a matter of a few hours, undertake journey to outer space and planets, dive down
to the bottom of seas and explore the wonders there and so on. But at the same time, the
environment became more and more degraded and polluted. As a result of man-made
activities (deforestation urbanisation, industrialisation, etc.) the quality of environment
suffered which has threatened the survival of man himself on earth.

THE TRAGEDY OF COMMONS

“The tragedy of commons describes the relationship where individuals

and organizations consume shared resources (e.g. Air, freshwater, fish
from the ocean) and then return their wastes back into the shared
resource (e.g. Air, land). In this way, the individual or organization
receives all the benefit of the shared resource but distribute the cost
across anyone who also uses that resource. The tragedy arises when
each individual or organization fails to recognize that every individual or
organization is acting in the same way (Mihelcic & Zimmerman, 2014).”

Below are some example of tragedy of commons:

1. The Grand Banks are fishing grounds off the coast of Newfoundland.

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 It is said that the Portuguese and Spanish fishermen may have begun
fishing in the Grand Banks coast of
Newfoundland even before the KNOW MORE EXAMPLES
expedition of Christopher Columbus. https://www.dummies.com/educati
on/science/environmental-
The harvest of codfish seemed endless.
science/ten-real-life-examples-of-
And as part of the open ocean, ships of the-tragedy-of-the-commons/
any country could fish without any limit.
That is why for centuries, the region has been described as home to an endless
supply of codfish. But it lasted until the 1990’s. The Grand Banks fishing industry
finally collapsed, after 15 years of attempt to bring it back. It slowly began with the
advances in fishing technology in the 1960s and 1970s, allowing people to catch
huge number of cods. The cod catch in 1968 from Grand Banks was 810,000 tons
but it dropped to 34,000 tons in 1974. Since then, the cod populations remained
low and the stocks had been impossible to restore.

Figure 2: Codfish
(Source: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/grandbanks.htm)
2. Passenger pigeons
Passenger pigeons migrated across the sky in huge numbers when
Europeans arrived in North America. The bird’s habitat started to destroy when
settlers began to spread farther across the continent. Also, they started to clear
the forests where the birds inhabited and eventually began to hunt them. As a
food resource, the birds were also sold in cities during the mid-1800s. By 1870,
the pigeon’s population was almost dissolved due to massive hunting, and
hunting limits were enacted in 1890s. In 1914, the last known passenger pigeon
(which was under captive in the zoo) died.
3. Unregulated logging
Tropical rainforests are a common resource that are for everyone’s
beneficiaries. However, in some parts of the world, there are vast expanses of
dense rainforest which are not owned by government and/or private property that
allows effective management for resource extraction. Timber producers are
driven to eradication for just as much timber as possible cheaply; that is why,
each year, logging permanently damages acres of rainforest.

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 Though there are some jurisdictions to be strictly implemented regarding
the protection of the forests from destructive logging practices, illegal logging
continues, mostly along boundaries between countries where laws may differ on
each side of the border.
4. Population growth
The world’s population reached an enormous number of 7 billion individuals.
Exponential growth of human population is considered as an example of a
tragedy of commons by some scientists. The common resource is said to be the
Earth and all its shared resources. Studies about population growth as a tragedy
of commons shows reduction of common resources is not always because of
greediness. Simply by existing, allocating water, air, land and food resources to
these 7 billon individuals (and counting) may result to outsized consumption.

5. Traffic congestion

Public roads are an excellent example of common property shared by many

people. Each of these people has his or her own interest in mind — typically, how
to get to work as quickly and easily as possible. But when everyone decides that
public roads are the best way to meet traveling needs, the roads jam up and slow
down overall traffic movement, filling the air with pollutants from idling cars.

Turning public roads into private roads or toll roads creates a different
scenario. With a toll to pay (especially if the toll is higher during peak-use hours
such as rush hour), drivers may consider a less-direct route or choose to drive to
work at a different time.
ENGINEERING

According to MacVicar, “Engineering is a profession that applies

mathematics and science to utilize the properties of matter and sources
of energy to create useful structures, machines, products, systems, and
processes. There are fundamental differences between scientists and
engineers. The key is not so much in the individual parts of the definition,
but rather in the integration of the parts. It is inherent in the professional
development of the engineer that he or she must attain experience,
practice, and judgment under the tutelage of an experienced engineer.
Engineering has at least this much in common with the learned
professions! Engineers are frequently pressed to explain why they are
different from scientists. Consider the following distinction: “Scientists
discover things. Engineers make them work.”

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 (Mihelcic & Zimmerman, 2014)

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
When people first recognized that health and well-being is related to the quality of
the environment, they began to apply principles to improve the quality of the environment.
Historically civil engineers were the engineering profession responsible for designing
facilities to control pollution and protect the environment not until 1960s. The profession
environmental engineering was born when the academic programs in engineering and
public health schools broadened their scope. The descriptive title “environmental
engineer” was used as an accurate title to describe the graduates. The profession has
several roots that became a foundation to acquire knowledge, skill, and professionalism.
These roots include Civil engineering, public health, ecology, chemistry and meteorology.
In this chapter we will discuss some of the roots where environmental engineering derived
most of its knowledge:

Civil Engineering

Throughout western civilization, the development of agricultural skills led to

communities’ progress. As competency in farming increased, the distribution of labor
became possible through engineering solutions. Communities began to build public and
private structures. These structures also needed to be protected against war and
additional structures were built for defensive purposes. Construction of machines of war
became a requirement in some societies to conquest their neighbors. The term “engineer”
used to refer the builders of war machines and this term continued to imply military
involvement well into the eighteenth century.
The title “civil engineer” was widely adopted by engineers who are engaged to
public works. It was in year 1782 when John Smeaton, builder of roads, structures, and
canals in England, could correctly be designated as a civil engineer. He recognized that
his profession focuses more on the construction of public facilities rather than the military
ones. In 1882, the first formal engineering curriculum in the United States was established
at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Public Health

During the Middle Ages, and through the industrial revolution, the life in cites was
difficult, sad, and usually short. In 1842, the Report from the Poor Law Commissioners
on an Inquiry into the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population of Great Britain
described the sanitary conditions in this manner:

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 Many dwellings of the poor are arranged around narrow courts having no other
opening to the main street than a narrow-covered passage. In these courts there are
several occupants, each of whom accumulated a heap. In some cases, each of these
heaps is piled up separately in the court, with a general receptacle in the middle for
drainage. In others, a plot is dug in the middle of the court for the general use of all
the occupants. In some the whole courts up to the very doors of the houses were
covered with filth.

Public health measures in the middle of the nineteenth century were inadequate and
often counterproductive. The germ theory of disease has not as yet fully given attention,
and epidemics swept seasonally over the major cities of the world. Some intuitive public
health measures were made, however, have a positive effect. Removal of corpses during
epidemics, and appeals for cleanliness, helped the public health indeed.

The 1850s have come to be known as “Great Sanitary Awakening” led by determined
public health advocates like Sir Edwin Chadwick in England and Ludwig Semmelweiss in
Austria, suitable and effective measures began to develop. A classic epidemiological
study of the 1849 cholera epidemic in London, conducted by John Snow’s stands as a
ground breaking important investigation of a public health problem. The use of mapping
and identifying the residences of those who were infected by the disease, Snow was able
to find the source of the epidemic as the water from a public pump on Broad Street.
Removal of the handle from the Broad Street pump eliminated the source of the cholera
pathogen, and the epidemic subsided. Waterborne diseases have become one of the
major concerns of the public health. To control such diseases by providing safe and
pleasing water to the public has been one of the remarkable successes of the public
health profession.

Today, water is not only the concerns of public health but all aspects of civilized life,
including food, air, toxic materials, noise, and other environmental insults. The work of
the environmental engineer has been made more difficult by the current tendency to
attribute many ailments, whether or not there is any evidence linking cause and effect.
The environmental engineer faces the rather task of revealing such evidence relating
causes and effects that often are connected through years and decades as human health
and the environment respond to environmental pollutants.

Ecology

The science of ecology defines “ecosystems” as interdependent populations of

organisms interacting with their physical and chemical environment. Some ecosystems
are fragile, easily damaged, and slow to recover; some are resistant to change and are

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able to withstand even serious perturbations; and others are remarkably resilient and able
to recover from perturbation if given the chance.

In order to reduce the adverse impacts on fragile ecosystems, engineers must

appreciate the fundamental principles of ecology and design in consonance with these
principles. For example, since the deep oceans are among the most fragile of all
ecosystems this fragility must be part of any consideration of ocean disposal of waste.
The engineer’s job is made even harder when he or she must balance ecosystem damage
against potential human health damage. The inclusion of ecological principles in
engineering decisions is a major component of the environmental engineering profession.

Ethics
Engineers draw concern from ethics for greater good. Historically, the engineering
profession in general and environmental engineering in particular did not consider the
ethical implications of solutions to problems. It is appeared to be irrelevant to engineering
to consider ethics as a framework for making decisions since the engineer generally did
exactly what the employer or client required. Today, however, the engineer is no longer
free from concern for ethical questions.
In order to be familiarize with the ethics being followed specifically by civil
engineers in our country, below is the Code of Ethics from the Philippine Institute of Civil
Engineers.

Fundamental Principles

Civil engineers uphold and advance the integrity, honor and dignity of the civil
engineering profession by:

 using their knowledge and skill for the enhancement of human welfare and the
environment;
 being honest and impartial and serving with fidelity the public, their
employers/employees and clients;
 striving to increase the competence and prestige of the civil engineering
profession; and
 supporting the professional and technical societies of their disciplines.
Fundamental Canons

1. Civil Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public
and shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development in the
performance of their duties.
2. Civil Engineers shall perform services only in areas of their competence.

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 3. Civil Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and truthful
manner.
4. Civil Engineers shall act in professional matters for each employer or client as
faithful agents or trustees, and shall avoid conflicts of interest.
5. Civil Engineers shall build their professional reputation on the merit of their
services and shall not compete unfairly with others.
6. Civil Engineers shall act in such a manner as to uphold and enhance the honor,
integrity, and dignity of the civil engineering profession.
7. Civil Engineers shall continue their professional development throughout their
careers, and shall provide opportunities for the professional development of
those civil engineers under their supervision.
(Adopted in September 2001 as part of the Manual of Professional Practice for Civil
Engineers published by the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers.)

THE 12 PRINCIPLES OF GREEN ENGINEERING

Green engineering is the design, discovery and implementation of engineering

solutions with an awareness of these potential benefits and impacts throughout the
lifetime of the design. The goal of green engineering is to minimize adverse impacts while
simultaneously maximizing benefits to the economy, society and the environment
(Mihelcic & Zimmerman, 2014).

1. Designers need to strive to ensure that all material and energy inputs and outputs
are as inherently nonhazardous as possible.
2. It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it is formed.
3. Separation and purification operations should be designed to minimize energy
consumption and materials use.
4. Products, processes, and systems should be designed to maximize mass, energy,
space, and time efficiency.
5. Products, processes, and systems should be "output pulled" rather than "input
pushed" through the use of energy and materials.
6. Embedded entropy and complexity must be viewed as an investment when
making design choices on recycle, reuse, or beneficial disposition.
7. Targeted durability, not immortality, should be a design goal.
8. Design for unnecessary capacity or capability (e.g., "one size fits all") solutions
should be considered a design flaw.
9. Material diversity in multicomponent products should be minimized to promote
disassembly and value retention.
10. Design of products, processes, and systems must include integration and
interconnectivity with available energy and materials flows.

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 11. Products, processes, and systems should be designed for performance in a
commercial "afterlife".
12. Material and energy inputs should be renewable rather than depleting.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER

“Environmental engineering is essential for development of facilities for protection of the
environment and for the proper management of natural resources. The environmental
engineer places special attention on the biological, chemical, and physical reactions in
the air, land, and water environments and on improved technology for integrated
management systems, including reuse, recycling, and recovery measures.”

DUTIES AND TASKS

 Design systems, processes, or equipment KNOW MORE ABOUT

to control, manage, and treat water, air, or ENVIRONMENTAL
soil quality ENGINEERS
 Gather data to use for assessment and https://www.recruitday.com/expl
ore-careers/role/environmental-
environmental monitoring
engineer
 Evaluate environmental impacts of
projects
 Advise procedures in cleaning up contaminated sites
 Collaborate with environmental scientists, planners, hazardous waste technicians,
engineers, lawyers, or other specialists to address environmental problems
 Create or update plans, permits, or standard operating procedures
 Develop site-specific health and safety protocols
 Inspect facilities or programs to evaluate effectiveness and ensure compliance with
environmental regulations
CONSULTANT SERVICES

Consulting environmental engineers can provide clients with a wide variety of services
including:

 Air quality and air pollution control

 Laboratory services
 Construction management
 Marine waste disposal and nearshore oceanography
 Energy development, conservation, and recovery
 Regional water pollution control planning
 Environmental and ecological studies

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  Sewage treatment and disposal
 Environmental impact analyses
 Sludge handling and disposal
 Facility operation and management
 Solid waste management
 Hazardous and toxic waste management
 Storm drainage and flood control
 Human settlements
 Water reclamation and reuse
 Industrial waste control and treatment
 Water resources and hydrology
 Irrigation and agriculture
 Water supply, treatment, and distribution

NOTABLE ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERS

ELLEN HENRIETTA SWALLOW RICHARDS

(December 3, 1842 – March 30, 1911) (first female environmental engineer)

Richards was an industrial and safety

engineer, environmental chemist, and university
faculty member in the United States during the
19th century. She was also the first woman
admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) and became an instructor in
sanitary chemistry there. She worked with many
local and national groups dealing with water
SUPPLIES and public health problems.

Figure 3: Ellen Henrietta Swallow

Richards
Source: The Life of Ellen H.
Richards by Caroline L. Hunt,
1912

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GURU DAS AGRAWAL

(Also known as Sant Swami Sanand, Sant Swami

Gyan Swaroop Sanand (20 July 1932 – 11 October
2018)

He was an Indian environmental engineer,

religious leader, monk, environmental activist, professor,
and he was the Patron of Ganga Mahasabha founded by
Madan Mohan Malviya in 1905.

Agrawal is notable for a number of fasts

undertaken to stop many projects on River Ganga. His
fast in 2009 led to the damming of the Bhagirathi River
being stopped. Figure 4: Guru das Agrawal
Source:https://creativecommons.org/lice
He died on 11 October 2018, after fasting since 22 nses/by-sa/3.0
June 2018 in petition to the government to act on its
promises to clean and save the Ganga.

MARC EDWARDS
(Born 1964)
Edwards is a civil engineer/environmental
engineer and the Charles P. Lunsford Professor of Civil
and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech.

His expertise is on water treatment and corrosion

and he is considered as one of the world’s leading
experts in water corrosion in home plumbing and a
nationally recognized expert on copper corrosion.

His research on elevated lead levels in

Washington, DC's municipal water supply gained
national attention. It changed the city's recommendations
on water use in homes with lead service pipes, and made Figure 5: Marc Edwards
(Source:https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/20
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to admit 11/11/111111-engineering-
to publishing a report so rife with errors that a marcandyannastudy.html)
congressional investigation called it "scientifically
indefensible". He is also one of the whistleblowers in the Flint water crisis, along with Dr.
Mona Hanna-Attisha.

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GEORGE PINDER
Pinder is a Professor of Civil and
Environmental Engineering with a secondary
appointment in Mathematics and Statistics at
the University of Vermont.

His areas of expertise and researches

are Water Resources; Environmental;
Sustainability & Energy; Geotechnical &
Geoenvironmental; and Climate Change &
Hazard Mitigation.He also served as a
professional witness in various notable
environmental cases including Love Canal and Figure 6: George Pinder
Source:
Woburn, cases that achieved considerable https://www.uvm.edu/cems/cee/profiles/george_pin
media attention. der

JOSEPH LSTIBUREK
(Born 1995)
He is a Canadian forensic engineer, building
investigator, building science consultant, author,
speaker and widely known expert on building moisture
control, indoor air quality, and retro-fit of existing and
historic buildings.
He is also an adjunct professor of Civil
Engineering at the University of Toronto; an industry
consultant specializing in rain penetration, air and
vapor barriers, building durability, construction Figure 7: Joseph Lstiburek
Source:
technology and microbial contamination — and an https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
advisor on numerous prominent building envelope sa/3.0
failures. He consults regularly on building code and
industry standards.
Lstiburek is widely known for his "Perfect Wall" concept, he identified four key
control layers within the building envelope (rain, air, vapor and thermal) critical to a
building's behavior, long-term performance and viability. He is a proponent of
understanding the concepts that allow older buildings to survive over time in harsh
climates — and mimicking those concepts with contemporary construction.

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