ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND HYDROLOGY - 2023/4

Module code: ENG3177

Module Overview

This module teaches water quality indicators, basic processes of water treatment and fundamental hydrological concepts, such as catchment water balance, frequency analysis and rainfall run-off transformation, essential in water-related civil engineering practice. 

Module provider

Sustainability, Civil & Env Engineering

Module Leader

MARTI-CARDONA Belen (Sust & CEE)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Overall student workload

Independent Learning Hours: 102

Lecture Hours: 10

Seminar Hours: 2

Tutorial Hours: 6

Laboratory Hours: 6

Guided Learning: 8

Captured Content: 16

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None.                                  

Module content

Environmental engineering


  • Introduction to water resources for drinking water supply.

  • Water quality indicators relevant to drinking water treatment and supply.

  • Treatment of surface and ground water to achieve a potable status.

  • Design and assessment of water treatment processes.



Hydrological engineering


  • Hydrometric data sources: where to find data and what they mean.

  • Catchment water balance: a,b,c of sustainability.

  • Reservoir capacity design.

  • Frequency analysis: how extreme is an event?

  • Rainfall-runoff transformations.


Assessment pattern

Assessment type Unit of assessment Weighting
Coursework COURSEWORK 40
Examination EXAM (2 hour, invigilated) 60

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate the depth and breadth of their environmental and hydrological engineering understanding, and their ability to apply it to real problems.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:


  • Coursework (40%): students are tasked with the design of a water treatment facility. They are allowed to work in groups of up to 3 students.

  • Exam (60%): in-class exam at the end of the semester, which will assess the independent understanding of the environmental and hydrological engineering theory and the ability to apply it, as well as the students’ capacity to demonstrate the depth and breadth of their learning in the critical answers to discussion questions.



Formative assessment and feedback are provided to students during the tutorials and computer lab sessions. The academics have office hours 4 hours per week. Doubts are also answered through a discussion forum on SurreyLearn and via email.

Module aims

  • To provide students with a clear understanding of water quality indicators relevant to drinking water.
  • To train students in the process of treating natural and contaminated water to achieve a potable status.
  • To provide students with a clear understanding of the water balance components, which are the corner stone for addressing water resources sustainability challenges.
  • To provide students with the basic theory and digital capabilities for the analysis and simulation of extreme rainfall events.
  • To develop the students¿ resourcefulness for the location and exploitation of novel environmental data sources.

Learning outcomes

Attributes Developed
Ref
001 Fundamental understanding of water treatment processes and capacity to perform preliminary designs. KC EA1B, EA1M, EL2, P4
002 Resourcefulness to locate and select the appropriate hydrological data sources for engineering applications. KPT EA3B, EA3M, D3B, P4, P9M
003 Clear knowledge of the water balance components and capacity to apply them in the context of water resources sustainability. KCP SM3B, SM3M, P4
004 Understanding of hydrology frequency principles. KCT EA1B, EA1M, D1, P4
005 Ability to conduct rainfall-runoff transformations in the context of flood risk assessments. KCPT EA1B, EA1M, SM3B, SM3M, EL2, EL4

Attributes Developed

C - Cognitive/analytical

K - Subject knowledge

T - Transferable skills

P - Professional/Practical skills

Methods of Teaching / Learning





  The learning and teaching strategy is designed to provide students with:


  • sound theoretical background on water treatment processes and ability to undertake basic engineering designs of treatment facilities.

  • theoretical basis of high flow hydrology and digital capabilities for its application to engineering flood management challenges.

  • theory of water balance and sustainability, and ability to apply it to real scenarios.



Class notes, captured lectures, tutorials and solutions, and guided learning instructions are provided on weekly basis on Surrey Learn. Students are encouraged to go over the captured content before the face-to-face seminars, tutorials and computer labs.

Captured lectures are illustrated with real case applications of the covered materials, in order to strengthen the student´s ability to link theory and complex real engineering problems.

Theory, tutorials and lab sessions are combined, so students consolidate their theory straight away, with hands-on applications. The academics monitor students during the tutorials and lab sessions, and provide personalized support.

 

 

 




Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ENG3177

Other information

This module is designed to allow students' development in the following areas:
Digital capabilities: the students learn digital tools for the retrieval of spatiotemporal hydrological measurements and for their transformation into actionable engineering data. This contributes strongly to their employability.
Resourcefulness and Resilience: the students learn to locate and select appropriate hydrological data worldwide for engineering applications. The module provides digital spaces (on-line forum, office and on-line drop-in sessions) to maximize opportunities for direct feedback, and enhance the emotional/affective dimensions of learning.  
Sustainability: the module teaches the underlying concepts of sustainable water resources management and has direct links to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on ensuring a clean and stable water supply for all.

ENG3177 culminates the water thread of the civil engineering BEng programme, which consists of modules Fluid Mechanics and Pipe Hydraulics (ENG1073), Hydraulics and Environmental Quality (ENG2101) and Integrated Design 2 (ENG2107).
 

Programmes this module appears in

Programme Semester Classification Qualifying conditions
Civil Engineering BEng (Hons) 1 Compulsory A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module
Civil Engineering MEng 1 Compulsory A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2023/4 academic year.