Water Cycle: concepts, practice and applications

Water is of vital importance to our society. Without access to water we are unable to live, produce and prosper. Viability and prosperity are governed by water availability, be it through agriculture, industry, logistics or services in urban areas.

During this course you will learn about the water system and how to monitor its status. You will be introduced to various water quality parameters and their relevance to the water system as well as to water treatment.

You will learn about chemical and biological system dynamics. You will use mass balances and basic (reactor) models of rivers, lakes and ponds to determine the effect of different discharges and emissions on a water system and how you can limit these effects through basic water treatment, ensuring adequate water quality for the environment and human use. You will learn to apply a number of tools to qualify and quantify the situation of water systems. Water treatment types that will be investigated include biological, chemical and physical.

You will discover that math is quite important to investigate the impact of pollution and the design measures to combat it. For those who wish to take it one step further: advanced water treatment will be taught in year 4 of Water Management, starting September 2019