What is Environmental Engineering?
Environmental engineering is the development of processes and infrastructure for the supply of water, the disposal of waste, and the control of pollution of all kinds. These endeavors protect public health by preventing disease transmission, and they preserve the quality of the environment by averting the contamination and degradation of air, water, and land resources.
Environmental engineering is a field of broad scope that draws on such disciplines like chemistry, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, economics, and mathematics.
Projects in environmental engineering involve the treatment and distribution of drinking water; the collection, treatment, and disposal of wastewater; the control of air pollution and noise pollution; municipal solid-waste management and hazardous-waste management; the cleanup of hazardous-waste sites; and the preparation of environmental assessments, audits, and impact studies.
Mathematical modeling and computer analysis are widely used to evaluate and design the systems required for such tasks. Chemical and mechanical engineers may also be involved in the process. Environmental engineering functions include applied research and teaching; project planning and management; the design, construction, and operation of facilities; the sale and marketing of environmental-control equipment; and the enforcement of environmental standards and regulations.
History of Environmental Engineering
Environmental engineering was traditionally a specialized field within civil engineering and was called sanitary engineering until the mid-1960s, when the more accurate name environmental engineering was adopted. The practice of environmental engineering dates back to the dawn of civilization. Ever since groups of people began living in semi-permanent settlements, they have had to deal with the challenges of providing clean water and disposing of solid waste and sewage. With the growth of cities and the advent of large-scale farming and manufacturing, people have also had to worry about air quality and soil contamination.
As people recognized that their health was related to the quality of their environment, they built systems to improve it. The ancient Indus Valley Civilization (3300 B.C.E. to 1300 B.C.E.) had advanced control over their water resources. 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. They also had an early canal irrigation system enabling large-scale agriculture.
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. The Greeks also had aqueducts and sewer systems that used rain and wastewater to irrigate and fertilize fields.
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. 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.
The first environmental engineer is said to have been Joseph Bazalgette. According to an article in the Postgraduate Medical Journal, Bazalgette oversaw the construction of the first large-scale municipal sanitary sewer system in London in the mid-19th century. This was prompted by a series of cholera epidemics, as well as a persistent unbearable stench, that were attributed to the discharge of raw sewage into the Thames River, which was also the main source of drinking water for the city. This “great stink,” which was so noxious that it caused Parliament to evacuate Westminster, gave then-Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli grounds to ask for 3.5 million pounds to improve the city’s sewage disposal system.
Environmental Engineering Education
The education of environmental engineers usually involves graduate-level coursework, though some colleges and universities allow undergraduates to specialize or take elective courses in the environmental field. Programs offering associate (two-year) degrees are available for training environmental technicians.
According to 2019 O*NET OnLine reports, 48% of environmental engineers had a master’s degree, while 41% had a bachelor’s degree. Environmental engineering programs require sequences in calculus and science as part of the non-engineering curriculum. The engineering track includes coursework in environmental processes, pollution and design. Some programs offer concentration areas, such as air quality, water resources and ecology. Prospective programs should be accredited by ABET, Inc., formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.
Individuals who wish to offer their engineering services directly for hire need to be licensed. Licensure requires passing two exams. The first is the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam, which may be taken while an individual is still in school. After four years of work experience, individuals may sit for the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam to become a licensed professional engineer. Both the FE and PE exams have a version specific to environmental engineering.
There is an increasing need for environmental engineers as our effect on the environment needs to be addressed with more urgency. Engineers must complete post-secondary education, get four years of work experience, and pass a licensure exam. Once all of these requirements are completed, job security appears to be strong for the next ten years.
Environmental Engineering Careers
Jobs
The greatest number of environmental engineers (28%) work in architectural, engineering, and related services. Another 21% are employed in management, scientific, and technical consulting services. 13% work in state government, 7% in federal government, and 6% in local government.
Environmental engineers work in various settings. They usually work from in offices while planning designs or working on environmental permitting and regulatory issues. However, they may work at industrial sites or outdoors while conducting inspections or coordinating a facility’s waste management activities. Most environmental engineers work full time. Those who manage projects often work overtime to monitor progress and meet deadlines.
In the public sector, environmental engineers are employed by national and regional environmental agencies, local health departments, and municipal engineering and public works departments. In the private sector, they are employed by consulting engineering firms, construction contractors, water and sewerage utility companies, and manufacturing industries.
Salaries
An entry-level environmental engineer with less than 1 year experience can expect to earn an average total compensation (includes tips, bonus, and overtime pay) of $56,669. An early career environmental engineer with 1-4 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $61,704. A mid-career environmental engineer with 5-9 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $74,320. An experienced environmental engineer with 10-19 years of experience earns an average total compensation of $88,570. In their late career (20 years and higher), employees earn an average total compensation of $101,989., according to Payscale.com.
The top respondents for the job title environmental engineer are from the companies CDM Smith, Arcadis, Inc. and Aecom Corporation. Reported salaries are highest at Geosyntec Consultants, Inc. where the average pay is $70,713. Other companies that offer high salaries for this role include Aecom Corporation and Tetra Tech, Inc., earning around $64,127 and $63,463, respectively. Arcadis, Inc. pays the lowest at around $59,199. CDM Smith and Aecom Technology Group, Inc. also pay on the lower end of the scale, paying $59,824 and $62,380, respectively.
What Do Environmental Engineers Do?
Environmental engineers are involved in managing and reducing waste and minimizing pollution in order to protect, restore and preserve the planet. They design technologies and implement processes and systems to prevent and control a range of environmental risks, and also to restore and reverse environmental damage.
They use their background in science and engineering to provide a healthy environment for the world’s population by disposing of waste, providing safe drinking water, controlling environmental hazards, improving recycling and decreasing soil, water and air pollution.
Responsibilities
Some responsibilities of an environmental engineer include:
- Collecting and analyzing environmental data
- Carrying out site assessments to determine environmental impact of commercial activity
- Designing technology for pollution control and waste management
- Ensuring design projects comply with environmental and health regulations
- Identifying critical research areas such as renewable energy, climate change and food and water security
- Improving environmental conservation management, including recycling, public health and water and air pollution
- Studying human influences on the environment
- Undertaking environmental protection projects such as designing air pollution management systems
Skills
Employers also desire applicants with the following abilities:
Working knowledge of relevant processes and systems – environmental engineers are well versed in the processes and systems related to the field they work in, such as hydrology, fluid dynamics, geography, chemical engineering, or geology
Research and writing skills – to prepare reports about land use and policies or to create environmental documents detailing compliance with federal, state, and local regulations
Troubleshooting skills – when designing facilities and processes, environmental engineers strive to solve several issues at once, from workers’ safety to environmental protection, anticipating problems to prevent losses for their employer, safeguard workers’ health, and mitigate environmental damage
Interpersonal skills – environmental engineers work toward a common goal with other engineers, scientists, technicians, and mechanics
Imagination – the ability to foresee how proposed designs and systems will interact with system components already in place and the environment is also a critical skill
Future of Environmental Engineering
If environmental engineering is going to face the challenges of the impending climate catastrophe, it will be forced to evolve. Education will have to be overhauled in order to deal with the concerns of the future and make the discipline more appealing to prospective students. One of the things brought up in the 2019 study “Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century” was the fact that engineers will have to change tact from simply solving problems to predicting them and fixing them before they have developed. This means, at its most basic level, working with experts from other fields to prevent disaster before it starts. Important players in this will be those in the social sciences, who will enable engineers to learn about the social, economic, legal, and political contexts within which they work.
Some of this has already started: universities have begun to implement, for example, leadership initiatives which layer, on top of the environmental engineering degree, courses in social consciousness and creativity. Moreover, continuing education will become ever more important as the number of those with undergraduate degrees increases – a good thing by anyone’s estimation, but something that arguably lowers the value of a BSc or BA. Specialization will also become more important, again forcing students to continue into highly-specialized graduate programs. And it isn’t only experts who need to be brought into the equation, but the public, too: as interest in the environment and the protecting of it increases, environmental engineers will be forced to deal with the demands of an ever-more-vocal public.
All of these developments will transform the discipline of environmental engineering into something truly modern. The field has something essential to contribute to the health and prosperity of the world, particularly as climate change is now at the top of the agenda. Climate problems have to be prevented before they have materialized, because this crisis can’t be solved after the fact: it needs to be mitigated with prevention measures. Whether improving water supplies, helping to grow the sustainable energy sector, or working with the public, experts and at-risk communities to adapt to a fast-changing world, environmental engineers in particular will be at the forefront of the solution to the most pressing concern of our time – perhaps of all time. They have continued proving they are up to the job; now, with the developments that are required of them, they will have to work harder than ever.
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