Sanitary Engineering

Start next run: October 2010
Duration: 18 Months
Location: UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands

Participant Profile

This specialisation is designed for professionals interested in achieving and maintaining the cleaner environment and improving public health.

It is particularly relevant to BSc-level engineers who are involved in (or wish to become involved in) the provision of sanitation services.

Typical participants include civil, process and sanitary engineers, university faculty and researchers, and technical managers.

Learning Objectives

After successfully completing the Sanitary Engineering specialisation, graduates will be able to:

• Understand and explain the role of sanitation in the urban water cycle and its relation to public health and environment.
• Develop rational approaches towards sustainable wastewater management via pollution prevention, appropriate treatment, and resource recovery and re-use at both centralised and decentralised levels.
• Understand the relevant physical, chemical and biological processes and their mutual relationships within various sanitation components.
• Define and critically analyse, assess and evaluate various urban drainage and sewerage schemes, and wastewater, sludge and solid waste treatment process technologies.
• Analyse, synthesise, integrate, interpret, and discuss scientific and practical information in the context of preparing research and engineering projects including preparation of master plans, feasibility studies and preliminary designs.
• Apply modern tools for technology selection and to apply state-of-the-art modeling tools on various sanitation components.
• Identify, develop and conduct independent research including desk studies, field work, and laboratory research.
• Contribute to the development of innovative approaches to the provision of adequate and sustainable sanitation services in developing countries and countries in transition.

Course Contents

The Sanitary Engineering Specialisation consists of a balanced mixture of academic and novel practical knowledge related to process design and engineering of sanitation facilities within the context of integrated urban water management (centralised or decentralised, on-site or off-site, low cost or high tech).

The specialisation consists of the following modules:

• Urban Drainage and Sewerage covers urban drainage types and characteristics, urban drainage systems, determination of inputs to urban drainage systems, hydraulics of sewer systems, modeling of urban drainage hydraulics and urban drainage design.
• Biological Waste Water Treatment includes wastewater microbiology and characterization, COD, N and P removal, sludge settling properties, settling, aeration and mixing, toxicity, activated sludge and biofilm systems, process control, and design of wastewater treatment plants.
• Resource Oriented Sanitation includes anaerobic wastewater treatment, natural systems for wastewater treatment, separation at source, wastewater re-use, design of sanitation systems, and technology selection tools.
• ModelingWastewater Treatment Processes and Plants covers introduction to modeling, influent characterisation, model matrix, simulation protocols, modeling of various treatment systems such as activated sludge, biofilms, MBRs, and ponds, and case studies.
• Industrial Effluents Treatment and Residuals Management includes pollution prevention and control, cleaner production principles, industrial effluent characterisation and treatment, case studies from various industries, sludge characterisation, aerobic and anaerobic treatment, disposal and re-use, and integrated wastewater and sludge management.

In addition, one elective module must be selected from the following:

• Decentralised Water Supply and Sanitation
• Modeling Urban Drainage and Sewerage
• Solid Waste Management

The list below shows all course modules of the specialisation within the framework of the International Master Programme in Municipal Water and Infrastructure (participants can choose between modules that have the same module-number). This is followed by a six month research and thesis phase. In total, the programme covers a period of 18 months and graduates will be awarded 106 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) credits.