2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses School of Environment and Society Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Graduate major in Civil Engineering
Water Chemistry for Environmental Engineering
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Civil Engineering
- Instructor(s)
- Manabu Fujii
- Class Format
- Lecture
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - Class
- -
- Course Code
- CVE.G403
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2025
- Offered quarter
- 3Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 19, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
This lecture provides the knowledge and tools necessary to understand the chemical reaction processes (water chemistry) of various substances in water, mainly in natural water (rivers, lakes, marshes, seawater, etc.) and engineered water (drinking water, sewage water). In the first part of the course, students will learn about the basics of chemical reactions, such as equilibrium theory and reaction kinetics. Then, this lecture demonstrates “how can these chemical reactions be applied in the real world and environment?” by introducing some examples such as chlorine disinfection in water purification and organic pollutants in natural water as examples. In addition, through group discussions, we will organize the relationship between water chemistry and the challenges that humanity are facing, and discuss how water treatment and water infrastructure can contribute to such environmental and social problems. In this lecture, the basics of water chemistry will be covered, including thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, acid-base systems, and carbonate systems. Although there are some other important reactions (redox reactions, complexation reactions, etc.), this lecture does not directly deal with such developmental topics, but provides materials and other resources to support further learning according to students' requests.
Course description and aims
By taking this lecture, students will be able to acquire the following skills.
(1) Understand the basic concepts and theories governing reaction processes in water (equilibrium theory, reaction kinetics, non-ideal systems).
(2) Understand the various reaction processes (acid-base, disinfection reaction, etc.) that occur in natural and treated water.
(3) To be able to understand and propose approaches to solve various water-related challenges faced by humanity.
Keywords
Water and wastewater treatment, water infrastructure, sustainability, equilibrium , kinetics, acid-base reactions
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
A small quiz and homework (report) will be given every time in the class.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Introductory matters of Water Chemistry such as concentration unit | Understand overlapping neighborhoods of water chemistry and units used in this field. |
| Class 2 | The thermodynamic basis for equilibrium | Understand reaction and energy relationship. |
| Class 3 | Characterization of ideal and non-ideal systems | Understand activity-concentration relationship and effect of ionic strength on the relationship. |
| Class 4 | History of Water Infrastructure and interaction with Water Chemistry | To understand the significance of water chemistry in context of water and environmental engineering and water infrastructure history |
| Class 5 | Disinfection with Chlorine in Water Treatment | Understand the reaction mechanism of chlorine and disinfection byproducts in water treatment. |
| Class 6 | Fundamentals of chemical kinetics | Understand expression and solving technique of elemental and multiple kinetic reactions. |
| Class 7 | Acid-base and carbonate systems 1 | Understand the relationships between pH and acid dissociation equilibrium. |
| Class 8 | Acid-base and carbonate systems 2 | Understand the relationship among carbonate, alkalinity and pH. |
| Class 9 | Acid-base and carbonate systems 3 | Deepen understanding of acid-base equilibrium and carbonate chemistry through exercises. |
| Class 10 | Current problems and future challenge of water environment(1) | Understand approaches to solving various problems and issues related to the water environment. |
| Class 11 | Current problems and future challenge of water environment(2) | Understand approaches to solving various problems and issues related to the water environment. |
| Class 12 | Current problems and future challenge of water environment(3) | Understand approaches to solving various problems and issues related to the water environment. |
| Class 13 | Review and exercise on fundamental water chemistry (1) | Deepen understanding of the fundamentals of water chemistry through review and practice. |
| Class 14 | Review and exercise on fundamental water chemistry (2) | Deepen understanding of the fundamentals of water chemistry through review and practice. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
Water Chemistry: An Introduction to the Chemistry of Natural and Engineered Aquatic Systems, Oxford Univ Pr, 2011
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Big World, Small Planet: Abundance Within Planetary Boundaries, Johan Rockström, Mattias Klum, Yale University Press, 2015
Evaluation methods and criteria
Evaluated by small assignments during the lecture as well as review and exercise (70%) and examination (30%)
Related courses
- CVE.G402 ： Environmental Statistics
- CVE.G401 ： Aquatic Environmental Science
- GEG.E412 ： Hydrology and Water Resources Conservation
- GEG.E502 ： Environmental Hydraulics
- GEG.E411 ： Atmospheric Environment in Megacities
- GEG.E511 ： Socio-ecological systems in changing global and local environments
- GEG.E401 ： Global Environmental System and Ecosystem Dynamics
- CVE.B311 ： River Engineering
- CVE.G310 ： Water Environmental Engineering
Prerequisites
No prerequisites