Preface
The past seventy-five years have seen the emergence of a growing desire worldwide
that positive actions be taken to restore and protect the environment from the
degrading effects of all forms of pollution – air, water, soil, thermal, radioactive,
and noise. Since pollution is a direct or indirect consequence of waste, the seemingly
idealistic demand for “zero discharge” can be construed as an unrealistic demand for
zero waste. However, as long as waste continues to exist, we can only attempt to
abate the subsequent pollution by converting it to a less noxious form. Three major
questions usually arise when a particular type of pollution has been identified:
(1) How serious are the environmental pollution and water resources crisis? (2) Is
the technology to abate them available? and (3) Do the costs of abatement justify the
degree of abatement achieved for environmental protection and natural resources
conservation? This book is one of the volumes of the Handbook of Environmental
Engineering series. The principal intention of this series is to help readers formulate
answers to the above three questions.
The traditional approach of applying tried-and-true solutions to specific environmental and water resources problems has been a major contributing factor to the
success of environmental engineering, and has accounted in large measure for the
establishment of a “methodology of pollution control.” However, the realization of
the ever-increasing complexity and interrelated nature of current environmental
problems renders pollution control imperative that intelligent planning of pollution
abatement systems be undertaken. Prerequisite to such planning is an understanding
of the performance, potential, and limitations of the various methods of environmental protection available for environmental scientists and engineers. In this series
of handbooks, we will review at a tutorial level a broad spectrum of engineering
systems (natural environment, processes, operations, and methods) currently being
utilized, or of potential utility, for pollution abatement, environmental protection,
and natural resources conservation. We believe that the unified interdisciplinary
approach presented in these handbooks is a logical step in the evolution of environmental engineering.
ix
The past seventy-five years have seen the emergence of a growing desire worldwide
that positive actions be taken to restore and protect the environment from the
degrading effects of all forms of pollution – air, water, soil, thermal, radioactive,
and noise. Since pollution is a direct or indirect consequence of waste, the seemingly
idealistic demand for “zero discharge” can be construed as an unrealistic demand for
zero waste. However, as long as waste continues to exist, we can only attempt to
abate the subsequent pollution by converting it to a less noxious form. Three major
questions usually arise when a particular type of pollution has been identified:
(1) How serious are the environmental pollution and water resources crisis? (2) Is
the technology to abate them available? and (3) Do the costs of abatement justify the
degree of abatement achieved for environmental protection and natural resources
conservation? This book is one of the volumes of the Handbook of Environmental
Engineering series. The principal intention of this series is to help readers formulate
answers to the above three questions.
The traditional approach of applying tried-and-true solutions to specific environmental and water resources problems has been a major contributing factor to the
success of environmental engineering, and has accounted in large measure for the
establishment of a “methodology of pollution control.” However, the realization of
the ever-increasing complexity and interrelated nature of current environmental
problems renders pollution control imperative that intelligent planning of pollution
abatement systems be undertaken. Prerequisite to such planning is an understanding
of the performance, potential, and limitations of the various methods of environmental protection available for environmental scientists and engineers. In this series
of handbooks, we will review at a tutorial level a broad spectrum of engineering
systems (natural environment, processes, operations, and methods) currently being
utilized, or of potential utility, for pollution abatement, environmental protection,
and natural resources conservation. We believe that the unified interdisciplinary
approach presented in these handbooks is a logical step in the evolution of environmental engineering.
ix