Course description
Water is the source of the lives. With the industrialization and urbanization, the world is facing increasing challenge on water, including the water scarcity and water contamination. This course shows a general picture on water resources in the world, the challenges related with water and how environmental engineers address these challenges. A total of 6 modules are organized in this course.
Module 1 describes the natural movement, distribution and transition of water in this planet.
Module 2 describes the water and wastewater treatment in the city which is the very essential part for the routine operation of a city.
Module 3 and 4 talk about the water quality problem in river or lake, including the water contamination problem, how to fix it and some cases.
Module 5 talks about the emergency response in chemical spill accidents occurred in aquatic environment, which is quite unique compared with other similar courses. Module 6 extends the vision from the engineering to the social science, especially on water-related diplomacy. This course will help students understand the importance of water on human beings and the great contribution of environmental engineers to modern life.

Course description
1. General picture about Global Aquatic Environment (4 weeks)
Water Sphere
Natural Water Movement
Global Water Resources
Water, Energy and Food Nexus
Sustainable Development Goals of UN
2. Water and Wastewater Treatment in City (4 weeks)
Water is one kind of human right
Drinking Water Treatment: standard, process, health impact
Wastewater Treatment: standard, process, health impact
Energy and Resource Recovery from Wastewater
Water-wise City
3. River Pollution and Natural Remediation (2 weeks)
Hydrology
Contaminant Diffusion Model
Remediation
4. Eutrophication in Lake and Reservoir (2 weeks)
Algae bloom
Remediation
Cases: Lake Biwa in Japan, Lake Taihu in China
5. Emergency Response for Water Pollution (2 weeks)
Management: Water Safety Plan
Technologies
Cases: Basel Chemical Spill in 1984, Switzerland; Nitrobenzene Spill in 2005, China; Odorant Spill in 2014, West Virginia, USA; etc.
6. Water and Nations’ Relationship (2 weeks)
Water right conflict between nations, e.g. Mid-East, etc.
International Laws for Water Pollution Control

Evaluation
Attendance: 10%
Discussion in course: 30%
Write a report on water-related topics, about 5000 words: 60%