Graduate Program in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering

The graduate program in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering at Rutgers University focuses on environmental pollution control, management, and protection of resources, including air, water and land. The student can specialize in the areas of air quality management/pollution control, risk assessment, waste management (including environmental restoration, groundwater management, and solid/hazardous/mixed waste management), water quality/control (including waste treatment, industrial and municipal wastewater treatment and disposal, and aquatic chemistry), and water resources engineering and management.

The program usually focuses on the application of quantitative techniques to practical problems encountered in the field of environmental engineering, and is based on advanced analytical, numerical, and statistical methods applied to water chemistry; microbiology; transport processes in surface and ground waters; hydrology of surface and ground waters; hydroclimatology of land-atmospheric interactions; hydrometeorology; and geochemistry, geomorphology, and applied geophysics.

The major areas of emphasis for graduate programs are Water Resources, Treatment Processes, Fluid Mechanics & Coastal Engineering, Water & Air Quality Management, Environmental Engineering Science.

COURSES

16:180:561. (F) ADVANCED WATER SUPPLY AND SEWERAGE (3)
Development of sources of water supply; information analysis; design of collection, transmission, and distribution systems. Hydraulics and design of sewers.
 
16:180:562. (S) DESIGN OF WATER AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT (3)
Functional study of plant loadings in relation to degree of treatment desired; layout, analysis, and design of treatment process units; mechanical and thermal energy requirements and equipment.
 
16:180:563. (F) ADVANCED HYDROLOGY (3) 
Hydrologic processes and modeling evapotranspiration, infiltration, precipitation and snow melt, overland flow subsurface and surface flow relations, channel and watershed routing hydraulic flood routing, numerical methods; watershed modeling; stochastic processes in hydrology; flood and drought risks, flood plain analysis and management.
 
16:180:564. (S) UNIT PROCESSES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING (3)
Theory and laboratory experiments demonstrating the design requirements associated with unit processes in water and sewage treatment. Advanced methods of analysis such as spectroscopy, potentiometry, polarography, conductivity, and chromatography.
 
16:180:565. (S) BIOGEOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING (3)
Transformation of organic chemicals in sediments (marine, estua-rine) and freshwater environments; roles of microorganisms highlighted in examples of biogeochemical processes occurring in environmental matrices. Chemical processes and physical environment in natural (unperturbed) and polluted systems along with the degradation of biogenic and anthropogenic organic compounds. Molecular tracers specific to biogeochemical process as part of contemporary case studies. Prerequisites: 01:160:159-160, 161-162.
 
16:180:566. (S) SEDIMENT TRANSPORT (3)
Guo
Erosion, transport, and deposition of sediment within a watershed and, especially, the fluvial network; flow resistance in natural channels; suspended load, bed load, and total load; noncohesive vs. cohesive sediment; sedimentation; sediment transport as an index of pollutant movement; numerical modeling and field monitoring.
 
16:180:567. (S) ANALYSIS OF RECEIVING WATER QUALITY (3)
Guo
Introduction to mathematical modeling of water quality well- versus partially-mixed water bodies; turbulent diffusion, velocity-induced dispersion; reaction kinetics; biological processes, growth kinetics, BOD, dissolved oxygen, photosynthesis; development of water quality models.
 
16:180:568. (S) THERMAL EFFECTS ON RECEIVING WATERS (3)
Modes of heat transfer, energy equation; heat balance in well-mixed water bodies; heat exchange between atmosphere and water body; temperature dynamics in well-mixed bodies; thermal stratification in streams and reservoirs; heat dispersion; thermal jets and plumes; cooling ponds; temperature effects on water quality parameters.
 
16:180:569. (F) ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATICS (3)
R. Wang
The use of sensor networks for understanding and managing large-scale environmental systems. Topics include environmental information systems, data-driven modeling, geostatistics, and real-time decision making. Prerequisities: Familiarity with basic statistics and with Matlab or similar program.
 
16:180:574. (S) GROUNDWATER ENGINEERING (3)
Porous media; fundamental equations of groundwater flow; confined flow; unconfined flow; hydraulics of wells; numerical methods; groundwater contamination; investigation; remediation and clean-up; monitoring computer applications.
 
16:180:586. (S) ADVANCED FLUID MECHANICS (3) 
Basic laws and equations of fluid flows; exact and approximate solutions; potential flows; boundary layer flows; turbulent flows in pipes and open channels; free turbulent jets and wakes; turbulence and transport phenomena; transient flows.
 
16:180:588. (S) THEORY OF HYDRAULIC MODELS (3) 
Geometric, kinematic, and dynamic similarity between prototype and models. Similarity laws; Model techniques; undistorted and distorted models; models for hydraulic structures, free-surface flows, flows over erodible beds, and hydraulic machinery. Environmental applications.
 
16:180:590. (F) COASTAL ENGINEERING (3)
Guo
Generation and propagation of tides; salinity intrusion, pollutant flushing, and sedimentation in estuaries; circulation in the coastal ocean; coastal water quality modeling; coastal wetlands; gravity waves; coastal erosion; coastal structure design.
 
16:180:591. (S) SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL BIOTECHNOLOGY (3)
Fahrenfeld
Application of fundamental principles of environmental microbiology to bio-electrochemical systems, nutrient removal and recovery, biogas production, biofiltration, disinfection, and microbially influenced corrosion.
 
16:180:592. (F) GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR WATER MANAGEMENT (3)
Guo
Green infrastructure using both natural and engineered systems to sustain ecological health, minimize environmental impacts, reduce energy consumption, and conserve resources for future generations. Stormwater management, low-impact development, wastewater management, sustainable water supply, minimizing disruption of the environment by built structures, and harnessing energy from existing water infrastructure.
 
16:180:593. (F) QUANTITATIVE MICROBIAL RISK ASSESSMENT & ONE HEALTH ENGINEERING (3)
Fahrenfeld
Application of quantitative microbial risk assessment and One Health framework for problems at the intersection of public, animal, and environmental health and engineered systems. Case studies of classical and current issues (e.g., antimicrobial resistance).