RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL

UNIVERSITY

1st semester S.Y. 2019-2020

ESE
Environmental Science and Engineering

Chapter 1: Environmental Engineering

Reporters:
Parinas, Roldan V.
Jong, Kathleen C.
1.1 CIVIL ENGINEERING
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design,
construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including
public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewerage systems, pipelines,
structural components of buildings, and railways.[1][2]
Civil engineering is traditionally broken into a number of sub-disciplines. It is considered
the second-oldest engineering discipline after military engineering,[3] and it is defined to
distinguish non-military engineering from military engineering.[4] Civil engineering takes
place in the public sector from municipal through to national governments, and in the private
sector from individual homeowners through to international companies.
Civil engineering is the application of physical and scientific principles for solving the
problems of society, and its history is intricately linked to advances in the understanding
of physics and mathematics throughout history. Because civil engineering is a wide-ranging
profession, including several specialized sub-disciplines, its history is linked to knowledge
of structures, materials science, geography,
geology, soils, hydrology, environment, mechanics and other fields.
Throughout ancient and medieval history most architectural design and construction was
carried out by artisans, such as stonemasons and carpenters, rising to the role of master
builder. Knowledge was retained in guilds and seldom supplanted by advances. Structures,
roads, and infrastructure that existed were repetitive, and increases in scale were
incremental.[5]
One of the earliest examples of a scientific approach to physical and mathematical problems
applicable to civil engineering is the work of Archimedes in the 3rd century BC, including
Archimedes Principle, which underpins our understanding of buoyancy, and practical
solutions such as Archimedes' screw. Brahmagupta, an Indian mathematician, used
arithmetic in the 7th century AD, based on Hindu-Arabic numerals, for excavation (volume)
computations.[6]

1.2 PUBLIC HEALTH

Public health has been defined as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life
and promoting human health through organized efforts and informed choices of society,
organizations, public and private, communities and individuals".[1] Analyzing the health of
a population and the threats it faces is the basis for public health.[2] The public can be as
small as a handful of people or as large as a village or an entire city; in the case of
a pandemic it may encompass several continents. The concept of health takes into account
physical, psychological and social well-being. As such, according to the World Health
Organization, it is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.[3]
Public health is an interdisciplinary field. For
example, epidemiology, biostatistics and management of health services are all relevant.
Other important subfields include environmental health, community health, behavioral
health, health economics, public policy, mental health, occupational safety, gender issues in
health, and sexual and reproductive health.
Public health aims to improve the quality of life through prevention and treatment of disease,
including mental health. This is done through the surveillance of cases and health indicators,
and through the promotion of healthy behaviors. Common public health initiatives include
promotion of handwashing and breastfeeding, delivery of vaccinations, suicide prevention,
and distribution of condoms to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
Modern public health practice requires multidisciplinary teams of public health workers and
professionals. Teams might include epidemiologists, biostatisticians, medical
assistants, public health nurses, midwives, medical
microbiologists, economists, sociologists, geneticists, data managers, and physicians.
Depending on the need, environmental health officers or public health
inspectors, bioethicists, and even veterinarians, gender experts, or sexual and reproductive
health specialists might be called on.[4]
Access to health care and public health initiatives are difficult challenges in developing
countries. Public health infrastructures are still forming in those countries.
The focus of a public health intervention is to prevent and mitigate diseases, injuries and
other health conditions through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy
behaviors, communities and environments. Many diseases are preventable through simple,
nonmedical methods. For example, research has shown that the simple act
of handwashing with soap can prevent the spread of many contagious diseases.[5] In other
cases, treating a disease or controlling a pathogen can be vital to preventing its spread to
others, either during an outbreak of infectious disease or through contamination of
food or water supplies. Public health communications programs, vaccination programs and
distribution of condoms are examples of common preventive public health measures.
Measures such as these have contributed greatly to the health of populations and increases in
life expectancy.
Public health plays an important role in disease prevention efforts in both the developing
world and in developed countries through local health systems and non-governmental
organizations. The World Health Organization (WHO) is the international agency that
coordinates and acts on global public health issues. Most countries have their own
governmental public health agency, often called the ministry of health, with responsibility
for domestic health issues.
In the United States, state and local health departments are on the front line of public health
initiatives. In addition to their national duties, the United States Public Health
Service (PHS), led by the Surgeon General of the United States, and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, headquartered in Atlanta, are also involved with international health
activities.
In Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada is the national agency responsible for public
health, emergency preparedness and response, and infectious and chronic disease control and
prevention. The Public health system in India is managed by the Ministry of Health &
Family Welfare of the government of India with state-owned health care facilities.
1.3 ECOLOGY
Ecology (from Greek: οἶκος, "house", or "environment"; -λογία, "study of")[A] is a branch
of biology[1] that studies the interactions among organisms and their biophysical
environment, which includes both biotic and abioticcomponents. Topics of interest include
the biodiversity, distribution, biomass, and populations of organisms, as well as cooperation
and competition within and between species. Ecosystems are dynamically interacting
systems of organisms, the communities they make up, and the non-living components of
their environment. Ecosystem processes, such as primary production, pedogenesis, nutrient
cycling, and niche construction, regulate the flux of energy and matter through an
environment. These processes are sustained by organisms with specific life history traits.
Ecology is not synonymous with environmentalism, natural history, or environmental
science. It overlaps with the closely related sciences of evolutionary biology, genetics,
and ethology. An important focus for ecologists is to improve the understanding of how
biodiversity affects ecological function. Ecologists seek to explain:

 Life processes, interactions, and adaptations

 The movement of materials and energy through living communities
 The successional development of ecosystems
 The abundance and distribution of organisms and biodiversity in the context of
the environment

Ecology has practical applications in conservation biology, wetland management, natural

resource management (agroecology, agriculture, forestry, agroforestry, fisheries), city
planning (urban ecology), community health, economics, basic and applied science, and
human social interaction (human ecology). For example, the Circles of
Sustainability approach treats ecology as more than the environment 'out there'. It is not
treated as separate from humans. Organisms (including humans)
and resources compose ecosystems which, in turn, maintain biophysical feedback
mechanisms that moderate processes acting on living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic)
components of the planet. Ecosystems sustain life-supporting functions and produce natural
capital like biomass production (food, fuel, fiber, and medicine), the regulation of climate,
global biogeochemical cycles, water filtration, soil formation, erosion control, flood
protection, and many other natural features of scientific, historical, economic, or intrinsic
value.

The word "ecology" ("Ökologie") was coined in 1866 by the German scientist Ernst
Haeckel. Ecological thought is derivative of established currents in philosophy, particularly
from ethics and politics.[2] Ancient Greek philosophers such as Hippocrates and Aristotle laid
the foundations of ecology in their studies on natural history. Modern ecology became a
much more rigorous science in the late 19th century. Evolutionary concepts relating to
adaptation and natural selection became the cornerstones of modern ecological theory.

1.4 ETHICS
 Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing,
defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.[1] The field of ethics,
along with aesthetics, concerns matters of value, and thus comprises the branch
of philosophy called axiology.[2]
Ethics seeks to resolve questions of human morality by defining concepts such as good and
evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime. As a field of intellectual inquiry,
moral philosophy also is related to the fields of moral psychology, descriptive ethics,
and value theory.
Three major areas of study within ethics recognized today are:[1]

1. Meta-ethics, concerning the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions, and
how their truth values (if any) can be determined
2. Normative ethics, concerning the practical means of determining a moral course of action
3. Applied ethics, concerning what a person is obligated (or permitted) to do in a specific
situation or a particular domain of action.[1]
Rushworth Kidder states that "standard definitions of ethics have typically included such
phrases as 'the science of the ideal human character' or 'the science of moral duty'".[4] Richard
William Paul and Linda Elder define ethics as "a set of concepts and principles that guide us
in determining what behavior helps or harms sentient creatures".[5]
The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy states that the word "ethics" is "commonly used
interchangeably with 'morality' ... and sometimes it is used more narrowly to mean the moral
principles of a particular tradition, group or individual."[6] Paul and Elder state that most
people confuse ethics with behaving in accordance with social conventions, religious beliefs
and the law and don't treat ethics as a stand-alone concept.[7]
The word ethics in English refers to several things.[8] It can refer to philosophical ethics or
moral philosophy—a project that attempts to use reason to answer various kinds of ethical
questions. As the English philosopher Bernard Williams writes, attempting to explain moral
philosophy: "What makes an inquiry a philosophical one is reflective generality and a style
of argument that claims to be rationally persuasive."[9] Williams describes the content of this
area of inquiry as addressing the very broad question, "how one should live". [10] Ethics can
also refer to a common human ability to think about ethical problems that is not particular to
philosophy. As bioethicist Larry Churchill has written: "Ethics, understood as the capacity to
think critically about moral values and direct our actions in terms of such values, is a generic
human capacity."[11] Ethics can also be used to describe a particular person's
own idiosyncratic principles or habits.[12] For example: "Joe has strange ethics."

1.5 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AS A PROFESSION

Environmental engineering is a professional engineering discipline that takes from broad
scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology,
microbiology, and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and also improves the
health of living organisms and improve the quality of the environment.[1][2] Environmental
engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering and chemical engineering.
 Environmental engineering is the application of scientific and engineering principles to
improve and maintain the environment to:

 protect human health,

 protect nature's beneficial ecosystems,
 and improve environmental-related enhancement of the quality of human life.[1]

Environmental engineers devise solutions for waste water management, water and air
pollution control, recycling, waste disposal, and public health.[2][3] They design municipal
water supply and industrial wastewater treatment systems,[4][5] and design plans to
prevent waterborne diseases and improve sanitation in urban, rural and recreational areas.
They evaluate hazardous-waste management systems to evaluate the severity of such
hazards, advise on treatment and containment, and develop regulations to prevent mishaps.
They implement environmental engineering law, as in assessing the environmental impact of
proposed construction projects.

Environmental engineers study the effect of technological advances on the environment,

addressing local and worldwide environmental issues such as acid rain, global
warming, ozone depletion, water pollution and air pollution from automobile
exhausts and industrial sources.[2][6][7][8]

Environmental engineering is a name for work that has been done since early civilizations, as
people learned to modify and control the environmental conditions to meet needs.[3][12] As
people recognized that their health was related to the quality of their environment, they built
systems to improve it.[3] The ancient Indus Valley Civilization (3300 B.C.E. to 1300 B.C.E.)
had advanced control over their water resources.[12] The public work structures found at
various sites in the area include wells, public baths,water storage tanks, a drinking water
system, and a city-wide sewage collection system.[12][13] They also had an early canal
irrigation system enabling large-scale agriculture.[14]

From 4000 to 2000 B.C.E., many civilizations had drainage systems and some had sanitation
facilities, including the Mesopotamian Empire, Mohenjo-Daro, Egypt, Crete, and the Orkney
Islands in Scotland.[3] The Greeks also had aqueducts and sewer systems that used rain and
wastewater to irrigate and fertilize fields.[3]

The first aqueduct in Rome was constructed in 312 B.C.E., and from there, they continued to
construct aqueducts for irrigation and safe urban water supply during droughts.[3] They also
built an underground sewer system as early as the 7th century B.C.E. that fed into the Tiber
River, draining marshes to create farmland as well as removing sewage from the city.[3][12]