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Environmental and Sanitary Engineering Course
More than 2 million students worldwide

Environmental and Sanitary Engineering Course

Master the full scope of environmental and sanitary engineering, from drinking water treatment and wastewater management to solid waste systems and stormwater control. This course gives you the technical depth and practical tools to design, analyse, and manage infrastructure that protects public health and the environment. Build the expertise that modern engineering projects demand.

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What you will learn:

You will develop a thorough understanding of water quality science, treatment process design, and environmental monitoring principles. The course covers drinking water systems, biological wastewater treatment, sludge management, and solid waste engineering from first principles through detailed design. You will also learn stormwater hydrology, urban drainage design, and green infrastructure applications. Additional modules address contaminated site remediation, industrial pollution control, environmental impact assessment, and climate resilience strategies. Digital tools including GIS, hydraulic modelling software, and environmental data analytics are integrated throughout. By the end, you will be equipped to tackle complex environmental engineering challenges with technical confidence.

How you study in practice Environmental and Sanitary Engineering Course

How you practise Environmental and Sanitary Engineering Course

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Course content

8 Chapters • 37 LessonsDuration between 4 and 360 hours (you decide)

Chapter 1See details

Foundations of Environmental Engineering

  • Lesson 1 • Regulatory and Standards Framework

    Explains how environmental quality standards are set and enforced functionally. Students interpret permit conditions and compliance thresholds without jurisdiction-specific codes.

  • Lesson 2 • Environmental Monitoring Principles

    Introduces sampling design, field measurement, and data quality objectives. Monitoring skills underpin all subsequent treatment and compliance work.

  • Lesson 3 • Environmental Systems and Cycles

    Covers hydrological, carbon, and nitrogen cycles as engineering contexts. Connects natural system dynamics to pollution sources and treatment design.

  • Lesson 4 • Pollutant Classification and Behaviour

    Defines chemical, biological, and physical pollutants and their fate in environments. Provides the classification framework used throughout the course.

Chapter 2See details

Water Quality Science and Analysis

  • Lesson 1 • Physical and Chemical Water Parameters

    Covers turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and hardness measurement. These parameters drive treatment process selection in later chapters.

  • Lesson 2 • Water Quality Index and Reporting

    Teaches composite index calculation and regulatory reporting formats. Students translate raw data into actionable engineering decisions.

  • Lesson 3 • Nutrient and Organic Contaminants

    Analyses nitrogen, phosphorus, BOD, COD, and emerging organic pollutants. Results guide biological and chemical treatment process design.

  • Lesson 4 • Microbiological Water Quality

    Examines indicator organisms, pathogen groups, and enumeration methods. Microbial risk assessment connects directly to disinfection design.

Chapter 3See details

Drinking Water Treatment Systems

  • Lesson 1 • Distribution System Integrity

    Examines pipe materials, pressure management, and contamination prevention in networks. Distribution system design completes the safe water delivery chain.

  • Lesson 2 • Filtration Technologies

    Covers rapid sand, slow sand, and membrane filtration mechanisms and design. Filter selection depends on source water quality and treatment goals.

  • Lesson 3 • Source Water Assessment and Intake

    Evaluates surface and groundwater sources for treatability and vulnerability. Source characterisation determines the appropriate treatment sequence.

  • Lesson 4 • Disinfection and Residual Maintenance

    Addresses chlorination, UV, and ozone disinfection with CT concept application. Residual maintenance ensures microbial safety through the distribution system.

  • Lesson 5 • Coagulation, Flocculation, and Sedimentation

    Explains particle destabilisation chemistry and settling basin hydraulics. Students size coagulation and sedimentation units for target turbidity removal.

Chapter 4See details

Wastewater Collection and Characterisation

  • Lesson 1 • Sewer System Inspection and Maintenance

    Teaches CCTV inspection, condition grading, and rehabilitation planning for ageing sewers. Maintenance programmes protect collection system capacity and water quality.

  • Lesson 2 • Sewer System Hydraulics and Design

    Applies Manning's equation and hydraulic grade line analysis to sewer design. Proper hydraulics prevent surcharging and odour problems.

  • Lesson 3 • Wastewater Characterisation Methods

    Covers composite sampling, flow-proportional sampling, and laboratory analysis of influent. Characterisation data drives biological treatment process selection.

  • Lesson 4 • Wastewater Sources and Flow Estimation

    Identifies domestic, industrial, and stormwater contributions to wastewater flows. Accurate flow estimation is essential for treatment plant sizing.

Chapter 5See details

Biological Wastewater Treatment

  • Lesson 1 • Activated Sludge Process Design

    Covers reactor configurations, SRT control, and oxygen transfer for activated sludge. Students size aeration basins and secondary clarifiers for BOD removal.

  • Lesson 2 • Biofilm and Attached Growth Systems

    Examines trickling filters, rotating biological contactors, and moving bed biofilm reactors. Biofilm systems offer advantages in footprint and energy for certain applications.

  • Lesson 3 • Biological Nutrient Removal

    Addresses nitrification, denitrification, and biological phosphorus removal processes. Nutrient removal configurations build directly on activated sludge design.

  • Lesson 4 • Anaerobic Treatment Processes

    Covers UASB, anaerobic digestion, and biogas recovery from high-strength wastewaters. Anaerobic processes reduce energy demand and produce recoverable resources.

  • Lesson 5 • Microbiology of Wastewater Treatment

    Explains microbial ecology, growth kinetics, and substrate utilisation in treatment systems. Biological fundamentals underpin all process design in this chapter.

Chapter 6See details

Sludge Management and Biosolids

  • Lesson 1 • Sludge Stabilisation Methods

    Examines aerobic digestion, anaerobic digestion, lime stabilisation, and composting. Stabilisation reduces pathogens and volatile solids for safe biosolids reuse.

  • Lesson 2 • Biosolids Reuse and Disposal

    Addresses land application, incineration, and landfill disposal of treated biosolids. Reuse pathways are selected based on quality classification and site conditions.

  • Lesson 3 • Dewatering Technologies

    Covers belt filter presses, centrifuges, and drying beds for solids-liquid separation. Dewatering cake quality determines transportation and reuse options.

  • Lesson 4 • Thickening and Conditioning

    Covers gravity thickeners, dissolved air flotation, and chemical conditioning methods. Thickening reduces volume and improves downstream dewatering performance.

  • Lesson 5 • Sludge Quantity and Characterisation

    Quantifies primary, secondary, and chemical sludge production from treatment processes. Accurate sludge mass balances are prerequisite to handling system design.

Chapter 7See details

Solid Waste Management Engineering

  • Lesson 1 • Waste Generation and Characterisation

    Quantifies municipal, industrial, and hazardous waste streams using generation rate data. Characterisation results guide collection system and facility design.

  • Lesson 2 • Thermal Treatment and Waste-to-Energy

    Examines incineration, gasification, and pyrolysis for volume reduction and energy recovery. Thermal treatment is evaluated against landfill and recycling alternatives.

  • Lesson 3 • Collection and Transfer Systems

    Designs vehicle routing, collection frequency, and transfer station operations. Efficient collection minimises cost and environmental impact of waste transport.

  • Lesson 4 • Material Recovery and Recycling

    Covers source separation, MRF design, and markets for recovered materials. Recovery reduces landfill demand and conserves raw material resources.

  • Lesson 5 • Sanitary Landfill Design and Operation

    Covers liner systems, leachate collection, gas management, and closure design. Landfill engineering protects groundwater and manages long-term environmental liability.

Chapter 8See details

Stormwater and Urban Drainage Engineering

  • Lesson 1 • Stormwater Conveyance Design

    Designs storm sewers, open channels, and culverts using hydraulic principles. Conveyance systems must handle design flows without flooding or erosion.

  • Lesson 2 • Urban Hydrology and Runoff Estimation

    Applies rational method, SCS curve number, and continuous simulation to urban catchments. Runoff estimates drive all downstream drainage and treatment design.

  • Lesson 3 • Detention and Retention Facilities

    Covers dry and wet detention basins for peak flow attenuation and water quality improvement. Basin design integrates hydrology, geotechnical, and ecological considerations.

  • Lesson 4 • Stormwater Quality Treatment

    Addresses pollutant load estimation, best management practices, and treatment train design. Stormwater quality control protects receiving water bodies from urban runoff impacts.

  • Lesson 5 • Green Infrastructure and Low-Impact Development

    Examines bioretention, permeable pavement, green roofs, and infiltration trenches. LID practices reduce runoff volume and improve water quality at the source.

Certification

Your valid completion certificate

This course is for you:

  • Civil engineer: seeking specialized depth in water and sanitation infrastructure design.

  • Environmental consultant: needing structured process knowledge to support compliance projects.

  • Urban planner: wanting to collaborate more effectively with sanitary engineering teams.

  • Recent engineering graduate: building practical design skills beyond what coursework covered.

  • Public works professional: aiming to take on more technical responsibility in utility management.

  • Career changer from biology or chemistry: transitioning into applied environmental engineering work.

What our students say

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