Environmental engineers are tackling water quality issues. How can you help?

Aprender sobre el ciclo del agua y su relación con las fuentes de agua disponibles para captación, permite dimensionar las posibilidades de suministro de agua que se tendrían para una población. El conocimiento de la cantidad y disponibilidad de fuentes de agua en un territorio dado, se presenta como el punto de partida en la gestión del suministro de agua a las poblaciones. Además, conocer la dinámica e interacción de las comunidades con las fuentes de agua circundantes, determina las posibilidades en cuanto a cantidad de agua disponible, calidad fisicoquímica y microbiológica existente, así como metodologías de tratamiento y distribución.

One of the best propositions is to start with a water safety plan. This will be the first step in the water safety plan. By defining available water sources and estimating their quantities and qualities with factors mentioned above you will be able to decide later the best choices of water sources types in term of effectiveness, low cost treatment and sustainability. Tests should be done to create water profile to decide future steps related to treatment.

Monitoring water quality is essential for addressing water pollution issues effectively. By regularly assessing various parameters such as pH levels, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and concentrations of pollutants like heavy metals and nutrients, environmental engineers can identify sources of contamination and assess the overall health of aquatic ecosystems. This data enables informed decision-making for implementing appropriate remediation measures and regulatory actions to mitigate pollution and protect water resources. Monitoring also helps track the effectiveness of pollution control efforts over time, guiding ongoing management strategies to ensure the sustainability of water quality and ecosystem health.

Establecer programas de ahorro y uso eficiente del agua en una época como la actual, en la que las condiciones de cambio climático afectan de manera dramática la disponibilidad del recurso, es una actividad fundamental para garantizar el suministro de agua a la población y a quienes lo requieran. Realizar una planeación consiente de los consumos que se tendrán de agua, estableciendo programas de reducción de consumos excesivos, puede garantizar el suministro de agua a todos los usuarios que la necesiten, ayudando a conservar los caudales ecológicos requeridos en las fuentes y disminuyendo el impacto ambiental por sobre-explotación de agua.

One important step to prevent water pollution is to protect your water sources area first. You should also check your networks for any possible leakage. But in cases where water sources are not protected, you should use protective substances to treat any possible pollution anf prevent water from any future pollution. One example is the chlorine that releases its' residual form free cl to protect water from future pollution. But using chlorine has some requirements: place of application (can't be applied on water with high organic compound) and quantity based on chlorine demand in order not to depass the acceptable limit ( 0.2mg/l to 0.4 in networks ). In this way you can avoid any future health problems.

In my experience, engineers are much needed in water, sanitation, and hygiene deployments at community levels. I led a drinking water project in Venezuela, and we had plenty of volunteers from life sciences (physicians, nurses, bioanalysts, etc.), but we ran short of engineers. Those of us who were in charge of designing water purification systems, and planning and overseeing its maintenance and operation, were rather scarce. One reason may be that engineers are trained to work in technical settings, apart from social causes. In fact, we can significantly contribute to directly assisting vulnerable communities, and the WASH sector is one of the clearest examples.

When I’ve instructed general engineering classes, I’ve emphasized that in a sense all engineers are environmental engineers, ranging from thinking about what pollution issue will that particular raw material raise, to what issues could arise at the end of whatever widgets useful life. I have casted this thought as not making things more difficult for the staff environmental engineers.

El papel de la ingeniería ambiental en la gestión del agua, es ayudar a satisfacer las necesidades de captación y suministro del recurso a los diferentes usuarios, garantizando criterios de disponibilidad y calidad adecuados, sin impactar de manera negativa a los ecosistemas y el recurso hídrico. Para ello, podríamos establecer los siguientes puntos de análisis : * Conocer la disponibilidad de fuentes de agua y su relación con los ecosistemas. * Determinar la relación entre oferta y demanda de agua que se presentará en el territorio. * Analizar los impactos que se tendrán sobre las fuentes durante la captación de agua. * Planear los proyectos en equilibrio entre los aspectos ambiental, económico, social y técnico.

The reason why the importance not given to the water is . 1. Cheapest source of available, hence easily available raw materials , if it's costlier compared to other RM then every one will focus on elimination, reduction and recycling. 2. Everyone have to identify the right sources with respect to their application so that it can be used as it is, otherwise again it's need more of treatment which will increase further treatment cost and finally leads to generation of waste. 3. One more challenge is the data collection and analyze, this detsils is the heart of the design and input for brainstorm. 4. Control/reduce/eliminate consumption at the source point ,accordingly choose the other raw materials. 5. Promote the concept of Green chemistry.