Course syllabus for Sustainable urban water engineering

The course syllabus contains changes
See changes

Course syllabus adopted 2021-02-26 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameHållbar behandling av urbana vatten
  • CodeACE090
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerMPIEE
  • Education cycleSecond-cycle
  • Main field of studyCivil and Environmental Engineering
  • DepartmentARCHITECTURE AND CIVIL ENGINEERING
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language English
  • Application code 27118
  • Maximum participants70
  • Block schedule
  • Open for exchange studentsYes

Credit distribution

0118 Examination 3 c
Grading: TH		 3 c
  • 11 Jan 2022 pm J
  • 12 Apr 2022 pm J
  • 17 Aug 2022 am J
0218 Project 4.5 c
Grading: TH		 4.5 c

In programmes

Examiner

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Eligibility

General entry requirements for Master's level (second cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

English 6 (or by other approved means with the equivalent proficiency level)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites

Recommended courses are BOM221 Physics and chemistry for civil engineers, BOM270 Water resources and hydraulics, BOM345 Water engineering and the environment and BOM350 Hydrology and stormwater, or eqvivalent.

Aim

The course Sustainable Urban Water Engineering is compulsory for students from the master’s program Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering, and elective for students in other master programs with an environmental profile at Chalmers. The course aims at providing students with an advanced understanding of urban water and the importance of considering contamination for planning, development and operation of infrastructure. After completion of this course, you should be able to understand how you can prevent pollution and manage polluted water and sediments in urban environments. The course focuses on engineering methods to monitor and treat polluted landfill leachate, urban stormwater and urban sediments. This course is valuable for students who want to specialize in environmental, water, traffic and geological sciences and engineering. The gained knowledge will be useful to you, as a professional engineer, to contribute to sustainable development of the society.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

  • Understand the importance of water issues and environmental legislation to achieve sustainable development of urban infrastructure and construction.
  • Design sampling and monitoring strategies, and select relevant measurement techniques, to determine and assess water and sediment quality affected by urban pollution.
  • Propose and design appropriate innovative and sustainable preventive measures and engineered treatment methods for polluted landfill leachate, road runoff, urban stormwater and urban sediment.
  • Present results and knowledge, obtained from case-study investigations and the scientific literature, through oral and written presentations, and critically review the work in a professional and qualified manner.


Content

Water issues and urban development. Introduction to the urban water cycle and descriptions of how the development of infrastructure and construction works affects the flows and water quality in urban areas. This part covers legislation and regulations as the Water Framework Directive, water quality standards and guidelines.

Impact of pollutants on urban water and sediment. Advanced knowledge of organic matter, micro/nanoparticles, colloids, metals and organic pollutants and their effects on human health and the environment. The training covers collection of solid and water samples, chemical analysis as well as evaluation of measurement data. The key concepts to be covered are: road dust, road runoff, landfill leachate, stormwater, urban sediments, micro/nanoparticles, particle size distribution, persistent organic pollutants, partition, metals, speciation, pollutant transport and fate, biomagnification, analytical chemistry.

Preventive measures, treatment methods and design of management techniques. We study how to prevent emissions of pollutants to water and sediment using both preventive measures and engineered treatment methods. Planning and decision-making tools for sustainable water management are also covered. Important key concepts: remedial and preventive actions, sustainable development, sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS), multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), removal processes, design criteria, landfill leachate treatment methods, and sediment remediation.

Organisation

To reach the aims and objectives, this course uses a learning approach called Problem-Based Learning (PBL). PBL differs from traditional learning because of the focus on themes, with many traditional disciplines represented. In PBL, the starting point is real-life examples, but the same content is covered as in traditional learning. The gained knowledge should be meaningful, useful and relevant. In PBL, interaction is important; the students acquire knowledge in interaction with teachers and other students. The search for knowledge is preferred over lecturing in large classrooms.

Literature

Recommended books will be presented on the course website before the course starts and will be available for purchase at Cremona. In the course, we also use a reference library containing the most important books, reports, and analytical methods on the subjects studied. To find more relevant literature, we recommend the resources and databases available at Chalmers Library.

Examination including compulsory elements

The final grade is based on a case study in the form of group work (total 4.5 hp), and a written individual exam (total 3.0 hp). The compulsory attendance during the group work is high (see separate schedule); the grading of this part is based on a written report, oral presentation, and written opposition.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.

The course syllabus contains changes

  • Changes to examination:
    • 2021-12-09: Location Location changed from Halls at Lindholmen to Johanneberg by Mikael Stosic i samråd med tentadm
      [2022-01-11 3,0 hec, 0118]