Sturm Research Group

Water Sustainability & Resource Recovery

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CE 876 - Wastewater Treatment Plant Design

Course Description and Goals:

 

This is an upper-level graduate course for students interested in the management and treatment of wastewater. The emphasis in lecture is on the chemical, physical, and biological unit processes of wastewater treatment, including conventional and advanced technologies. The emphasis in homework assignments and design projects is for students to recommend specific design criteria given different treatment goals and challenges. The course will emphasize incorporating sustainability into design, with emphasis on reducing energy consumption and environmental impacts while increasing operations ease. Upon completion, students should be able to describe the purpose and major design elements of each step of a conventional wastewater treatment plant. Students should also be able to evaluate new technologies and make critical judgments as to their application and sustainability.

 

Course Objectives:

 

• To understand the historical purpose of municipal wastewater treatment and to describe the environmental and/or societal pressures responsible for the increasing complexity of treatment plants.

 

• To describe the composition and characteristics of municipal wastewater and to specify what treatment process is required for each constituent.

 

• To describe the relationship between biological competition of specific species and effluent clarity and quality.

 

• To discuss the relationship between wastewater composition, microbial growth rate, and biosolids management.

 

• To describe the common measurements for treatment plant performance and how individual discharge permits are established.

 

• To apply fundamental knowledge of wastewater composition and biological, chemical, and physical treatment processes to evaluate the applicability of emerging treatment technologies.