EACE E4163: Sustainable Water Treatment and Reuse

Course Overview

The rapid pace of societal progress over the past century has been made possible by the widespread development of sanitary engineering. However, to meet these evolving societal demands, such as protecting public health, ensuring economic sustainability, enhancing climate resilience, and optimizing resource use, conventional approaches must be reinvented. This course equips future engineers and leaders with the technical expertise and innovative mindset needed to shape the “Utility of the Future”.

The first half of the course covers fundamentals of site water balance and water and wastewater treatment. You will explore physical, chemical and biological treatment processes, and advanced treatment processes for water reuse. The second half covers mass-energy balance, economics, energy use, carbon emissions, energy recovery and nutrient recovery, and nature based treatment solutions such as constructed wetlands. 

Site visits to advanced water reuse systems will expose you to real-world engineering problems, bridging the gap between classroom learning and industry practice.

Course Instructor

Paul Knowles

Adjunct Professor & Professional Engineer in Hazen and Sawyer

Paul Knowles is a Professional Engineer in Hazen and Sawyer’s NYC office. He specializes in wastewater resource recovery with a focus on thermal energy recovery, digester biogas, low energy drying and thermal conversion to syngas. His professional experience includes integration of heat pumps with membrane bioreactors to produce net zero energy onsite water reuse systems, for which he holds a patent.

He obtained his PhD from Aston University, UK and his master’s degree from the University of Warwick, UK – both in mechanical engineering. Knowles is a licensed Professional Engineer in the states of NY and NJ with approximately two decades of applied experience.