Environmental and Water Resources Courses

Land utilization by individuals in relation to geology, mineralogy, physico-chemistry and geotechnical properties of component soils. Cation exchange reactions and effects of pollutants on soil properties. Erodability of soils in relation to moisture content, mineralogy, climate and attack by moving water, mineral water interactions, multiphase flow, acid mine drainage, solution-mineral equilibria, geochemical modeling. [Course Outline]

Design, planning, and management of civil infrastructure require understanding, simulation and prediction of hydrological and environmental components. This course gives students a working knowledge of probabilistic and statistical approaches to analyze and interpret growing observed and simulated spatial and temporal data ( e.g. climate, hydrology, environment, ecology, geology, population etc.). The emphasis will be on developing analytical skills to simulate and predict natural disasters including floods and droughts in an uncertain and changing climate. Topics covered in this class will be supplemented with computer exercises, which will use graphical and statistical software packages such as Excel, R, MATLAB, and ArcGIS to perform numerical analysis of real-world data. [Course Outline]

This course introduces students to the concepts and applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to water resources management. The students will learn about the application of GIS to hydrologic and hydraulic issues. The course will add insight to a number of hydrologic and hydraulic problems using computer packages such as Arc Hydro, HEC-HMS, HEC-GeoHMS, HEC-RAS,HEC-GeoRAS and PCSWMM and ArcGIS modules. [Course Outline]

To understand environmental impact assessment process applied to water resources engineering projects and the interdisciplinary nature of water resources engineering to protect water resources and the environment. To learn the design of water resources projects that have minimal effect on the natural environment, social or economic environment. [Course Outline]

To understand the issues of urban development related to stormwater quality and quantity control and learn the design of Stormwater Management (SWM) system using SWM Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Low Impact Developments (LIDs). Understand the interdisciplinary nature of stormwater pollution control and provide an insight into the design and modeling of a SWM system. [Course Outline]

Application of thermodynamics and kinetics to understand chemical speciation, transformation and partitioning in natural aquatic systems.  Broad applicability in areas including ground and surface water quality and contamination as well as water and wastewater treatment. [Course Outline]

The course consists of an overview of state-of-the-art modeling and simulation approaches of wastewater systems. In this course students will be introduced to fundamental biological, chemical and physical process modeling concepts for the removal of water pollutants. Students will model different unit processes to elucidate the functioning of processes and communicate knowledge about the performance of the system and recognize limitations and uncertainty of the models. Students will acquire hands-on experience with simulation methods supported with state-of-the-art software(s) that include both commercial and open source, model-based design, optimization, and control of wastewater processes. [Course Outline]

The course develops graduate level concepts for the examination of drinking water quality and discussion of state of the art technologies for treating drinking water. The motivation for the course is the recent recognition that infrastructure and facilities for delivering safe, clean, and adequate supplies of drinking water to citizens are either inadequate or susceptible to failure. This course will involve MANDATORY visit and experimental work at the Walkerton Clean Water Centre’s Demonstration Facility (Pilot Plant). [Course Outline]

This course deals with groundwater flow and subsurface contamination. The course will examine: (i) groundwater and its importance in the hydrologic cycle, (ii) sources and characteristics of groundwater pollutants, (iii) clean-up of contaminated sites, including remedial design and strategies. Relevant analytical and numerical models are employed throughout the course to better understand the concepts, their application, and the underlying mathematics. [Course Outline]