THT271 Basics of water and wastewater treatment technology

Credits (ECTS):10

Course responsible:Zakhar Maletskyi

Campus / Online:Taught campus Ås

Teaching language:Engelsk

Course frequency:Annually

Nominal workload:

For the 10 ECTS course, around 250 hours of work is typically expected. That means that in addition to structured teaching, group and individual work is expected every week. Individual work also includes readings suggested in the course outline.

Expected workload:

  • Individual work on Capstone Project 40%
  • Group work on Capstrone Project 20%
  • Classes 21%
  • Field trips 2,5%
  • Group discussions 2,5%
  • Other individual work 14%

Teaching and exam period:This course starts in Spring parallel. This course has teaching/evaluation in Spring parallel.

About this course

The focus of this course is on water and wastewater treatment technologies.

Students will learn about processes and technologies for designing and upgrading water and wastewater treatment plants. The capstone assignment is to design water and wastewater treatment plants upgrades based on two respective case studies.

The goal of this course is to enable students

  • to justify the selection of processes and
  • to propose technologies of water and wastewater treatment for design and upgrade of treatment plants.

Knowledge of processes used for water and wastewater treatment and the ability to propose respective technologies will be the basis for evaluating student performance in the course.

The course is arranged in 5 modules:

Module 1 introduces global water challenges and sets the context for the following modules. It positions the water crisis on the global risks landscape and reveals interconnections. It develops skills of PESTL analysis: political, economic, technological, legal, and environmental factors of the water crisis. It also introduces solution agendas on digital water, water and sanitation services, cities & basins of the future. Students will experience conflicts of resource efficiency in the water-food-energy nexus playing SIM4NEXUS serious game. The module introduces water supply and wastewater management practices in Europe. The module also develops skills of problem and stakeholder analysis in expert groups.

Module 2 focuses on physical, chemical, and biological quality of drinking water and the characteristics of wastewater. It also refreshes knowledge on chemical reactions and reactor analysis. It prepares students for understanding treatment processes in Module 3.

Module 3 introduces processes used in water and wastewater treatment technologies that are a subject in the following modules. Module 3 builds the knowledge of physical, chemical, physical-chemical, and biological processes. It also develops skills in process analysis in water and wastewater treatment. It introduces a case study development practice - an in-depth, detailed examination of two cases on water and wastewater within a real-world context of treatment plants.

Module 4 introduces water treatment technologies used in the drinking water supply. It builds knowledge on how to deploy processes learned from Module 3 in technologies that achieve treatment goals of waterworks: remove particles, natural organic matter, dissolved solids, disinfect water, treat residuals. It develops skills in planning technological upgrades at water treatment plants and selecting control and automation strategies. It introduces the practice of case study development with a technology upgrade.

Module 5 introduces technologies used in wastewater treatment. It builds knowledge on how to deploy processes learned from Module 3 in technologies that achieve treatment goals of wastewater plants: remove particles and phosphates, organic matter and nutrients, recycle and reuse water, process biosolids and sludges. It develops skills in planning technological upgrades at wastewater treatment plants. It introduces the practice of case study development with a technology upgrade.

Learning outcome

At the end of this course, students will know:

  • global context and status of the water sector
  • essential water quality indicators and wastewater characteristics
  • common physical, chemical, physical-chemical, and biological processes applied in the water sector
  • examples of water and wastewater treatment technologies

and will be able to

  • characterise the source water quality and wastewater characteristics and define treated water quality goals and standards
  • perform predesign studies, including process selection and development of design criteria
  • propose design alternatives for the selected processes
  • This course is offered as synchronous: it runs in real-time with students and instructors attending together.

    The course contains technical lectures, readings, technical excursions, keynotes and workshops involving serious games and digital collaboration tools.

  • All instructors offer individual or group consultations in-person or online by appointment via email.

    Students with special needs are entitled to special arrangements for their exams.

    Please contact the special needs office for more information: https://www.nmbu.no/en/students/guidance/disabilities-and-special-needs

  • A basic course in chemistry or water chemistry, for example KJM100 (Chemistry) or KJM220 (Water Chemistry)
  • Final assessment and grading will be done based on a 3-hour written digital examination counting for 40% of the final mark. The exam may include MCQs and/or essay-type questions. The term paper counts for the rest 60% of the final mark.
  • The external and internal examiner jointly prepare the exam questions and the correction manual. The external examiner reviews the internal examiner's examination results by correcting a random sample of candidate's exams as a calibration according to the faculty's guidelines for examination markings.
  • Two field trips (technical excursions) and the capstone project (term paper) are obligatory.
  • The course is designed for Master"s students in the Water and environmental technology program as well as other water-related courses (food sciences, etc).
  • The classes include:

    • Lectures and workshops involving serious games - 52 h / 26 classes
    • Field trips - 6 h / 2 classes
    • The rest is group work on Capstone Project, group discussions, and individual work.
  • Letter grades
  • Special requirements in Science