CEE 4535 - Water Chemistry for Environmental Engineering

Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

Prerequisite: CHEM 2090 or equivalent for undergraduates. Co-meets with CEE 6530.

M. Reid.

This course covers chemical principles relevant to the understanding, design, and control of chemical processes in natural and engineered systems. Topics include chemical thermodynamics, acid-base equilibria, mineral precipitation/dissolution, trace element speciation, redox reactions, and reactions at the solid-solution interface. This course focuses on the mathematical description of chemical equilibria and the development of numerical, graphical, and computational solutions to these problems. Students will learn to use chemical equilibrium modeling software to describe and predict chemical speciation in complex waters. Applications of aquatic chemical principles to topics including lead in drinking water systems, arsenic mobility in agricultural soils, and geologic CO₂ sequestration are discussed.

Outcome 1: Formulate systems of equations to describe aquatic chemical systems using engineering and chemistry principles including mass balance and chemical equilibrium concepts.

Outcome 2: Quantify chemical parameters in aquatic systems using numerical, graphical, and computational solution methods.

Outcome 3: Implement chemical equilibrium modeling of complex aquatic systems using Visual Minteq software.

Outcome 4: Communicate applications of chemical equilibrium modeling techniques to real-world aquatic systems in writing and through graphical representations.