2010 Spring ENVIRON 236-01
Bulletin Course Description Types, sources, and effects of pollutants. Water quality standards and criteria. Engineering approaches to water management. Mathematical models and their application to water quality management. Federal regulations, in particular, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. Policy analysis for water quality management planning. Instructor: Reckhow
(Instructor named in bulletin description above may not be current. For current instructor, see listing below.)
Title WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT Department ENVIRON Course Number 2010 Spring 236 Section Number 01 Primary Instructor Reckhow,Kenneth H Prerequisites
Synopsis of course content
Learning Objectives:
• Understand some basic water quality concepts, including fundamentals in water chemistry, ecology, and limnology
• Understand the evolution of water quality management policy; recognize the effectiveness and/or ineffectiveness of various strategies, including recent and current policies
• Understand (and observe first-hand) the functioning of wastewater and water treatment plants
• Understand the nature of nonpoint pollution, and the technical and legal difficulties for effective regulation
• Understand the basics of water quality modeling for management purposes
• Apply a lake water quality modeling assessment that is similar to those undertaken by environmental agencies and consulting firms
Textbooks
Textbook: Novotny, V. 2003. Water Quality. Wiley. New York. 864 p. The book should be available at the Duke bookstore, but there are less expensive copies available through Amazon.
Assignments
Assignments:
1. Small group reports: (assigned January 13; written report due January 27).
Students will form groups, and each group will study a different topic addressing a local/recent water issue. Candidate topics will be identified on January 13, and groups will form on January 15. Student groups are to prepare a short written report (5 page max) and present a brief (approx 10 minutes) oral report in class. The purpose is to learn about an interesting water quality topic that we will not explicitly cover in class.
2. Individual problem sets: (problems will be assigned at least one week before the due dates of February 26 and April 14). These will consist of problems associated with class/book topics (e.g., universal soil loss equation, stream modeling) and are intended to reinforce learning of important concepts through computation.
Lake Project:
Students will be split into groups and assigned a nearby lake for eutrophication analysis. The project is similar to that which state agency scientists and consultants undertake to assess how land use and nutrient loading affect water quality. The project requires contacts with outside groups (e.g., planning agencies), GIS, and spreadsheet modeling analysis. No water quality sampling is required. We will outline the project during class on January 29, and then assign groups. The project is due at the end of reading period; guidance for preparation of the final report will be posted on the course Blackboard site. Periodic reporting updates (on progress) are required; they are:
Exams
midterm and final
Grade to be based on
Course Requirements:
•Assignments (3) 20%
•Midterm exam and final exam 40%
•Lake project 30%
•Literature reviews (2) 10%
•Class participation could change a student’s final grade by half a letter grade
