Water Supply and Environmental Engineering

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Background:

Water Supply and Environmental Engineering is a multidisciplinary field that emphasizes the design, construction, and management of systems that provide clean water and ensure proper sanitation while protecting the environment.

Here’s a brief background on its key components:

  1. Water Supply Systems:
  • Source Identification: Identifying sustainable sources like rivers, lakes, and aquifers.
  • Water Treatment: Processes such as filtration, chlorination, and sedimentation to ensure safe drinking water.
  • Distribution Networks: Designing pipelines and storage facilities to deliver water efficiently to consumers.
  1. Sanitation and Wastewater Management:
  • Sewage Treatment: Techniques to treat wastewater before discharge into the environment, including biological, chemical, and physical processes.
  • Storm-water Management: Strategies to manage runoff and prevent flooding, such as retention basins and green infrastructure.
  1. Environmental Protection:
  • Pollution Control: Monitoring and mitigating the impact of pollutants on water bodies.
  • Sustainable Practices: Implementing practices that protect ecosystems and promote the sustainable use of water resources.

Thus, Water Supply and Environmental Engineering is a specialized field that addresses critical issues related to water availability, quality, and sustainability in the face of modern challenges of climate change, urbanization, and global water scarcity.

With a focus on both theoretical understanding and practical applications, Jimma University Institute of Technology offers specialized programs in water supply and environmental engineering. Distinguished teachers, well-organized lab facilities, and smart room technology are all used to support this program.

Facts and figures:

At the start of the 2014 /2015 G.C academic year, Water Supply and Environmental Engineering was introduced as an undergraduate program with over 250 fellow students. By then, the undergraduate program had been successfully delivered using distinguished lecturers and instructional spaces, including engineering labs, libraries, and demonstration sites set up within the Jimma University grounds. In an effort to strengthen the department, postgraduate programs, such as master’s and PhD degrees in environmental engineering, have been gradually introduced and expanded over time.

The rationale for the program:

Ethiopia has a population of more than 100 million. According to the UN convention, people of the country have a human right to access basic water for drinking, washing, cooking, and bathing. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-6 are both aimed at addressing this problem. The current water supply coverage for such a large population is only 71%, while sanitation coverage is only 45%. The country’s urbanization and industrialization are rapidly increasing. This leads to an increase in pollutant output. This implies that the problem is significant, and so Water Supply and Environmental Engineering is intended to handle it.

The Water Supply and Environmental Engineering program is primarily intended to address a gap caused by a shortage of people trained in water supply and environmental engineering. In this regard, the program aims to train viable, job-oriented, marketable, and problem-solving professionals in the planning, design, construction, and operation of water supply and sanitary facilities, as well as other related infrastructure, to protect natural resources such as air, water, and soil.

The program is becoming increasingly important as home water supply coverage in the country declines and the number of environmentally damaging human activities increases. Every day, massive amounts of industrial and home trash are generated. If these wastes are not adequately managed, they significantly pollute the environment. Thus, a Water Supply and Environmental engineer is expected to solve these massive difficulties with engineering solutions, resulting in an environment that is extremely suitable for human habitation.

Programs offered under the Water Supply and Environmental Engineering department are: