575.749.81 - Water Quality of Rivers, Lakes, and Estuaries

Environmental Engineering
Spring 2025

Description

Sustainably managing aquatic environments for ecosystem restoration/maintenance and protection of public health in a changing climate requires us to understand the combined effect of multiple physical, chemical, and biological stressors and processes. This class will equip students to apply their understanding of environmental engineering principles to real-world water quality issues using computer simulation models. Emphasis will be placed on gaining insight by understanding fundamental principles, assumptions, equations and methods used to develop water quality models. Physical, chemical and biological processes related to the classical water pollution problem of oxygen demand will be covered. Students will use a public domain model widely used in industry to develop a real-world case study application as a Course Project. Through the project the students will get experience assessing the impact of wastewater discharges of organic matter and nutrients on dissolved oxygen and to evaluate TMDL compliance. Selected advanced topics including eutrophication and toxic chemicals may also be introduced. Prerequisite(s):?Environmental Engineering Principles and Applications (EN.570.303 or equivalent) Area: Engineering, Natural Sciences. Undergraduate or Graduate level course(s) in Differential Equations.

Instructors

Default placeholder image. No profile image found for Ciaran Harman.

Ciaran Harman

Profile photo of Andrew Stoddard.

Andrew Stoddard

astodda2@jhu.edu

Course Structure

The course materials are divided into modules which can be accessed by clicking Modules on the course menu. A module will have several sections including the overview, content, readings, lectures, discussions, and assignments. You are encouraged to preview all sections of the module before starting. Most modules run for a period of seven (7) days, exceptions are noted in the Course Outline. You should regularly check the Calendar and Announcements for assignment due dates.

Course Topics


Course Goals

Students will learn about water quality management issues, how engineering principles and mathematics have been applied to natural water systems for the historical development of water quality models, and how tools and knowledge from earlier courses in mathematics and environmental engineering can be applied to develop solutions for simplified mechanistic models of water quality processes. Students will learn about physical transport processes of rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and estuaries, and biological-chemical processes and how these processes can be represented in a water quality model. Students will use this understanding of transport and fate processes to develop a simplified waste load allocation analysis using the EPA-approved QUAL2K model for a course project.

Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)

Textbooks

Required Textbook:

To purchase the textbook, go to Waveland Press. You will see that electronic or paperback copies of the book may be purchased.

A large portion of the course content is based on this textbook and it is not available electronically though the Sheridan library. You will, therefore, need to purchase the textbook for the course. You are welcome to purchase a used copy of the book either online or through the JHU Bookstore. The JHU bookstore provides a summary of prices for new and used copies of the textbook. Please be sure to get the 2008 edition published by Waveland Press.

Additional readings from journal articles and other sources are also posted throughout the course.

Required Software

In this course, you are expected to have computer literacy skills that include creating and submitting document files prepared in Microsoft Word and performing science and engineering calculations in Excel spreadsheets and Jupyter notebooks. In addition, you will be expected to use Zoom as a web conferencing tool, use online search tools for academic purposes, properly cite data and information sources, and prepare Powerpoint presentations of your findings for assignments and the course project. The following book is an excellent reference for Microsoft Excel since the author specifically describes features of Excel that are relevant to science and engineering calculations:
In this course, you will learn how to use the EPA-approved QUAL2K model software for a course project based on a real-world water quality model case study of a river. You will be required to download the following software:

Student Coursework Requirements

Specific grading criteria for items listed above is provided in the course site with the items, respectively.

A Word About Weekly Assignments

Weekly Assignments and Course Project Assignments will be both quantitative (calculations) and qualitative (e.g. literature reviews, document summaries). Include your name, module and assignment identifier as part of the filename for all files submitted to support your work for an assignment. Students shall include a cover sheet with their name, module, assignment identifier, due date and submission date. They also should include name and page number (i.e., page x of NumPages) on each page of their submissions. Each problem should have the problem statement, assumptions, computations, and evaluation/conclusions/discussion delineated. All figures and tables should be captioned and labeled appropriately. Please make sure that your assignment filenames have your name and module number on all files submitted (word, pdf, excel, powerpoint, etc.).

Advice from the Prof’s. Module assignment deliverables provide you --the graduate student and working professional -- with "training" for preparation of a technical memo, brief technical report or summary report of your "work in progress" as a deliverable to your supervisor or your client. Your assignments need to be submitted as a typed document with cover page information as described above. For each problem or question, include the following items: problem statement, narrative response or summary of methods, data sources and calculations or discussion addressing the question; summary data tables and any plots or charts if required, and any reference citations used to prepare your assignment.  Scanned images of schematic diagram sketches or hand calculations are acceptable for insertion into your deliverable document.

A Word About the Weekly Synchronous Sessions & Your Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools 

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are freely available and are being used in all facets of life, including personal and professional use.  However, it is imperative that you learn how to critically evaluate information that is provided by AI, so it is important that you learn how to complete the problems in this course yourself. That is the only way you'll have a level of understanding to explain your work and learn what to look for in evaluating AI generated information.

Therefore, while not strictly forbidden, you are strongly encouraged not to use AI tools to assist you in completing your work. If you use AI tools in your work processes, you are required to disclose this information, the extent of usage, and provide a citation in APA format.

There is an important exception to this. It is expected (though not required) that you will use AI to assist you in writing code, particularly in the cumulative assessment following week 5. This is not a class in coding, and AI assistance is now becoming standard practice in the coding community. However, it is essential that you are able to explain how the code works in detail. That means you can explain:

To help ensure that all students are developing the ability to understand the tools they are using and critically assess findings, we will use the weekly synchronous sessions as opportunities for you to practice explaining and analyzing weekly assignment findings. Attendance at weekly synchronous sessions is required. The weekly synchronous sessions will count for 20% of your final grade. At the synchronous sessions, students will be randomly called on by the instructor to verbally explain their findings and how they arrived at them for one of the previous week's problems. The instructor will ask follow-up questions aimed at assessing your mastery of the content.



Grading Policy

EP uses a +/- grading system (see “Grading System”, Graduate Programs catalog, p. 10).

Score RangeLetter Grade
100-97= A+
96-93= A
92-90= A−
89-87= B+
86-83= B
82-80= B−
79-77= C+
76-73= C
72-70= C−
69-67= D+
66-63= D
<63= F

Course Evaluation


Students will be evaluated on their mastery of the course materials provided in weekly readings, lectures, assignments, discussions, asynchronous sessions for module 1 through module 12 and a mid-term exam in module 5/6. In addition to module assignments, course project QUAL2K assignments will be required for development of the QUAL2K river model in module 6 through 12. The final course project powerpoint presentation will be submitted in module 13 and reviewed by students in module 14.

Academic Policies

Deadlines for Adding, Dropping and Withdrawing from Courses

Students may add a course up to one week after the start of the term for that particular course. Students may drop courses according to the drop deadlines outlined in the EP academic calendar (https://ep.jhu.edu/student-services/academic-calendar/). Between the 6th week of the class and prior to the final withdrawal deadline, a student may withdraw from a course with a W on their academic record. A record of the course will remain on the academic record with a W appearing in the grade column to indicate that the student registered and withdrew from the course.

Academic Misconduct Policy

All students are required to read, know, and comply with the Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS) / Whiting School of Engineering (WSE) Procedures for Handling Allegations of Misconduct by Full-Time and Part-Time Graduate Students.

This policy prohibits academic misconduct, including but not limited to the following: cheating or facilitating cheating; plagiarism; reuse of assignments; unauthorized collaboration; alteration of graded assignments; and unfair competition. Course materials (old assignments, texts, or examinations, etc.) should not be shared unless authorized by the course instructor. Any questions related to this policy should be directed to EP’s academic integrity officer at ep-academic-integrity@jhu.edu.

Students with Disabilities - Accommodations and Accessibility

Johns Hopkins University values diversity and inclusion. We are committed to providing welcoming, equitable, and accessible educational experiences for all students. Students with disabilities (including those with psychological conditions, medical conditions and temporary disabilities) can request accommodations for this course by providing an Accommodation Letter issued by Student Disability Services (SDS). Please request accommodations for this course as early as possible to provide time for effective communication and arrangements.

For further information or to start the process of requesting accommodations, please contact Student Disability Services at Engineering for Professionals, ep-disability-svcs@jhu.edu.

Student Conduct Code

The fundamental purpose of the JHU regulation of student conduct is to promote and to protect the health, safety, welfare, property, and rights of all members of the University community as well as to promote the orderly operation of the University and to safeguard its property and facilities. As members of the University community, students accept certain responsibilities which support the educational mission and create an environment in which all students are afforded the same opportunity to succeed academically. 

For a full description of the code please visit the following website: https://studentaffairs.jhu.edu/policies-guidelines/student-code/

Classroom Climate

JHU is committed to creating a classroom environment that values the diversity of experiences and perspectives that all students bring. Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. Fostering an inclusive climate is important. Research and experience show that students who interact with peers who are different from themselves learn new things and experience tangible educational outcomes. At no time in this learning process should someone be singled out or treated unequally on the basis of any seen or unseen part of their identity. 
 
If you have concerns in this course about harassment, discrimination, or any unequal treatment, or if you seek accommodations or resources, please reach out to the course instructor directly. Reporting will never impact your course grade. You may also share concerns with your program chair, the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, or the Office of Institutional Equity. In handling reports, people will protect your privacy as much as possible, but faculty and staff are required to officially report information for some cases (e.g. sexual harassment).

Course Auditing

When a student enrolls in an EP course with “audit” status, the student must reach an understanding with the instructor as to what is required to earn the “audit.” If the student does not meet those expectations, the instructor must notify the EP Registration Team [EP-Registration@exchange.johnshopkins.edu] in order for the student to be retroactively dropped or withdrawn from the course (depending on when the "audit" was requested and in accordance with EP registration deadlines). All lecture content will remain accessible to auditing students, but access to all other course material is left to the discretion of the instructor.