Learning Outcomes

Students analyze and evaluate basic methods of urban water management. They recognize the interactions between natural and technical systems. They acquire knowledge necessary to identify process engineering solutions and to implement them into functional systems (infrastructure elements). Students are able to describe urban water management issues in the context of watersheds and to take appropriate and environmentally-sound decisions in terms of energy efficiency and costs.

Content

This module provides a deep understanding of basic principles needed for the design, analysis and evaluation of urban water systems. The concept of system analysis is introduced to develop models that consider the most important biological, chemical and physical processes and are used to solve water management problems. Based on a detailed consideration of individual elements (subsystems), an overall picture of the water management system Urban Settlement and its interaction with surface and groundwater bodies can be gained. For this purpose, theoretical tools are developed and modeling approaches are reviewed. Students consider the factors energy and costs in the analysis and assessment of water management systems.

Learning Outcomes

Students get familiar with the basic principles of water ecology in surface waters. They are able to explain interactions between abiotic control factors (flow, chemistry, structure) and their relevance for the ecological status of standing waters and streams and to evaluate them critically. They become acquainted with field and laboratory techniques to establish water quality. With the help of these methods, they evaluate data-quality of information collected in the field regarding chemical, biological and structural water quality and determine the level of uncertainty intrinsic to the data-collection methods.
Using case studies, students are able to convey and evaluate positive results as well as restrictions from water restoration processes.

Content

As part of the module, water ecology principles, their practical significance and implementation of restoring measures are presented. The following topics are covered:
- Pollutants loads discharged into water bodies: discharge points, pollutants, sediment problems
- Sampling methods
- Oxygen content
- Methods for the assessment of water quality and water general status
- Practical exercises to measure water quality and condition in the field

Students get acquainted with practical examples of water protection and water remediation measures and they interpret and discuss them as part of an individual assignment. For this purpose, they implement their own framework, based on visible requirements and achievable targets.

Learning Outcomes

Students acquire knowledge about typical techniques in wastewater treatment at local and international level. They are able to perform a technical evaluation and describe dimensioning approaches taking into consideration legal boundary conditions.
Students analyze, evaluate and optimize operation of plant technologies. They focus on energy-efficient plant designs considering the most relevant factors affecting the total costs.
Students can analyze the situation in emerging and developing countries making a comparison with that in industrialized countries. Based on that, they are able to develop water-related management strategies.

Content

Students acquire in-depth knowledge of the design and operation of urban wastewater treatment plants in Germany and abroad. They will be able to analyse and assess the processes used and decide when new, more holistic methods can be applied. Various mechanical, biological and chemical treatment processes are considered, covering the treatment of both domestic and industrial wastewater and stormwater. Tours of various plants in Germany will round off the event.

Learning Outcomes

Students are able to explain the basic relationships between water-driven material cycles in river basins and their budget in aquatic ecosystems. They are able to analyze the impact of anthropogenic activities on water condition and quality. Students gain knowledge regarding transport pathways of substances and biochemical and physical interactions in water bodies in order to formulate mathematical model approaches.
Using simulation models, they are able to quantify substance emissions; to predict the impact from external influences on the water quality relevant processes and; to perform different scenario analysis. Students are capable of evaluating model results in terms of their plausibility and uncertainty.

Content

This module provides students with a broad-based understanding of the fundamentals of materials flows (N, P, pollutants) and their relevant transport pathways in river basins. Different modeling approaches for a quantitative description of the processes will be presented.
Students receive a single-user version of the simulation tool MoRE (Modeling of Regionalized Emissions). They have to develop and implement their own model in small groups and interpret simulation results.

Learning Outcomes

Students will learn about principles, operations, and simulation of separate and combined sewer systems. Students get familiar with technical plants for stormwater treatment. They can explain operating principles of individual system components as well as assess their suitability for specific applications and apply basic dimensioning approaches.

Content

Lectures are followed by several guided site visits, descriptions, and evaluations of different stormwater treatment plants: stormwater sedimentation tanks, stormwater overflow tanks, and retention soil filters. Settlement characteristics and dimensioning approaches for the design of stormwater treatment facilities will be discussed and evaluated during the site visits. The course wraps up with group laboratory work to learn measurements for sedimentation column and sedimentation basin experiments to evaluate sedimentation characteristics and conduct relevant measurements.

Learning Outcomes

The students will be able to learn the basics of wastewater treatment modeling to develop a matrix for a biological model. Another objective is being able to work with several relevant computer software as tools for modeling wastewater treatment processes and running sensitivity analysis, calibration, and validation. At the end of this course, the students will be able to apply the theory concerning modeling practice in case studies with real datasets using one of the relevant software they learned. During the presentation, they will discuss and explain the outcome of the model.

Content

The course deals with the basis of wastewater modeling (kinetics, stoichiometry, mass balances, hydraulics, mixing, and matrix notation), an introduction of existing activated sludge models (ASM1, ASM2, ASM3, ASM2d), and a selection of computer programs (AQUASIM, SIMBA, GPS-X, and SUMO) in which the models can be built in and the protocol for the development of calibrated activated sludge models will be practiced. Different adjustments to basic ASM models for characterization of biofilm and granular sludge model, as well as anaerobic digestion models (ADM), will be also discussed. Besides the presentations, exercises form a part of the course. Finally, case studies with real datasets on modeling wastewater treatment plants will be practiced.