After satisfying experience and testing requirements, the environmental engineer obtains professional engineering registration. Other environmental engineers work in the academic community or direct the development and production of equipment. Principal areas of employment for practicing environmental engineers include consulting, industry, and government. Other specialties include industrial hygiene, noise control, oceanography, and radiology. The principal environmental engineering specialties are well established: air quality control, water supply management, wastewater disposal, storm water management, solid waste management, and hazardous waste management. Since the environmental engineer is now dealing with sensitive public issues, training in public education, public policy, and other social sciences is desirable. In order to broaden their perspective and capabilities, contemporary environmental engineers pursue course work and postgraduate training in professional areas including biology, chemical engineering, chemistry, and hydrology.
Traditionally, environmental engineers drew their basic education and training from civil engineering programs. Today, management of toxic and hazardous wastes are additional focus areas. More recently, abatement of air and land contamination became new challenges for the environmental engineer. The terms “public health” and “sanitary” were first applied to those engineers seeking solutions to the elimination of waterborne disease in the 1800s. Urbanization and industrialization significantly contributed to the formation of unsanitary conditions in many areas. Environmental engineering began with society’s need for safe drinking water and management of liquid and solid wastes.
The environmental engineer places special attention on the biological, chemical, and physical reactions in the air, land, and water environments and on improved technology for integrated management systems, including reuse, recycling, and recovery measures. THE ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER Environmental engineering is essential for development of facilities for protection of the environment and for the proper management of natural resources. Source: STANDARD HANDBOOK OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERINGĮNVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING David Burstein, P.E.*
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