Overview
This package has been specially designed by PDHengineer.com to provide 10 PDH at a highly discounted price. And, if you Refer a PE, you can get a FREE 1 PDH Ethics course as well. You could save up to 38% on PDH credits guaranteed to be accepted by your state board.
The package consists of two of our most popular Environmental / Water Supply Engineering courses in one easy-to-complete package that will earn 10 PDH.
Course 1 - Design of Small Water Systems (8 PDH)
In this course the student will review EM 1110-2-503, "Design of Small Water Systems" published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This course is particularly relevant to engineers involved in designing both public and private water systems. Although the publication's title suggests coverage of only small water systems, much of the discussion applies to large systems as well. Below is a summary of the material covered by this course.
The student must take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of forty questions at the end of this course to earn PDH credits.
Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained
Water Quality
The National Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) specifies maximum permissible levels of contamination and minimum monitoring frequencies for public water systems. Mandatory adherence to the specified maximum contaminant level (MCL) is dependent on whether the water system serves a community (year-round residents) or a transient population (such as parks, campgrounds and restaurants). The MCLs are designed to protect the public from potential health effects of long-term exposure to contaminants, so they are generally not applicable to transient populations. Additionally, the EPA has developed National Secondary Drinking Water Regulations that are intended to serve as guidelines for the states and are not enforceable at the Federal level. These guidelines address contaminants that primarily affect the aesthetic qualities relating to public acceptance of drinking water.
This chapter teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- The National Safe Drinking Water Act's purpose and its applicability to water systems serving different populations
- Maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) and maximum contaminant level goals (MCLGs) for microbials, organics, inorganics and radionuclides
- Secondary maximum contaminant levels (SMCL's) that affect the aesthetic qualities of drinking water
- Waterborne diseases and methods for detection and treatment of the water supply
- The prevalence of the most common contaminants in different water sources (surface vs. ground water), their impact on public health and aesthetic water quality and typical removal methods
Water Quantity
Local water shortages are a recurring problem in many parts of the U.S. and throughout the world. As the population continues to grow, the problems will only increase. Thus, it is important to properly plan water use projects to ensure that the system is capable of meeting the users' demands for many years to come.
This chapter teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- General design criteria for raw water, finished water and distribution storage
- Design considerations and typical water usage rates for municipal and rural water systems, as well as recreation areas
- The effects of water conservation on future water consumption
Water Sources
When selecting the source for a small water system, the design engineer must consider many factors including the quantity and quality of water from the source, as well as development, operation, maintenance and monitoring costs. Connection to an existing water system is usually the best option when it is economically feasible. However, development of groundwater or surface water resources will be necessary for some applications, particularly in undeveloped areas where existing water systems are not available.
This chapter teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- The different sources of water available and their relative merits
- The benefits and methodology of performing sanitary surveys of alternative water sources prior to selection
- The advantages, disadvantages and design considerations associated with connection to an existing water system
- Design considerations for groundwater resource development including well design, testing and disinfection
- Types of surface water sources and their relative merits, as well as suction intake design
Water Treatment
The purpose of water treatment is to do whatever is necessary to render a raw water suitable for its intended use. Depending on the quality of the water source and the intended use, treatment may range from simple disinfection with chlorine to more expensive, specialized processes such as reverse osmosis or ion exchange treatment. This chapter examines the more common water treatment problems and addresses the most likely means of treatment. Emphasis is placed on identifying the base available technologies (BAT) for treating small water systems, although much of the material is also applicable to large water systems.
This chapter teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Best available technologies for drinking water contaminant removal
- Relative merits of disinfection technologies, including chlorination, iodination, ozonation, and UV radiation
- Iron removal techniques, including polyphosphates, ion exchange and oxidation-filtration
- Acceptable hardness levels and hardness removal using ion exchange softening
- Taste and odor removal using aeration, adsorption, oxidation and source water management techniques
- Water stabilization and corrosion control
- Turbidity removal using coagulation/flocculation, sedimentation and filtration
- Total dissolved solids (TDS) removal using reverse osmosis and ion exchange
- Control of organic substances
Pumping Storage and Distribution
Small water systems have unique design considerations relative to larger municipal water systems. The small number of users makes the system more sensitive to peak rates demanded by one or several users. Given this fact, it is particularly important that the system designer consider all components of the system simultaneously.
This chapter teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Design considerations and sequence for designing a water pumping, storage and distribution system
- Factors to consider when selecting a pump and designing a pumping station
- Different types of storage tanks available and their relative merits
- Distribution pipe sizing, layout, material selection, support and testing
Course 2 - Potable Water - Filtration (2 PDH)
For as long as humans have walked the earth, they have quested for pure drinking water. Sanskrit writings dating back to 2000 B.C. describe how to purify water by boiling it over a fire or filtering it through sand and gravel. The first municipal water plant was installed in Scotland in 1804. Slow sand filtration was first used for municipal water plants in the U.S. in 1872.
There have been many improvements made in filter technology since the early days of water treatment. Diatomaceous earth filters were used during WWII to provide lightweight, easily transportable potable water treatment units to serve soldiers in the field. As drinking water standards increase in stringency, membrane filters have become more attractive in recent years.
In this course the student will review the technical briefs Filtration, Slow Sand Filtration, and Diatomaceous Earth Filtration for Drinking Water published by the National Drinking Water Clearinghouse. These technical briefs provide an overview of the different types of filtration available for treating potable water. This course is particularly relevant to engineers involved in the design and selection of water treating and/or distribution systems, as well as engineers who are simply interested in learning more about potable water filtration systems.
The student must take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of fifteen questions at the end of this course to obtain PDH credits.
Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Why surface water and groundwater under the influence of surface water must be filtered.
- Pre-filtration processes, including coagulation, flocculation, and sedimentation.
- The process description, advantages and limitations of slow sand filtration
- Diatomaceous earth filtration history, performance capabilities and types - pressure filters vs. vacuum filters
Course
Once you have purchased this course, you will find links to the individual course material and to the quizzes using the My Account Menu. Here are step-by-step directions:
- Click the My Account tab at the top right of any page to log in to your account.
- From the My Account Menu, select Courses Purchased But Not Completed.
- Locate the appropriate course title in the list and click the
View Course link.
- Please note that you must click the View Course link on the line for the actual course you wish to view (either Design of Small Water Systems or Potable Water: Filtration) and not the link located on the line indicating the entire package.
- To access the quiz, please follow the same procedure, except click Take Quiz instead of View Course.
*Savings percentage is based on normal price of 1 PDH course and includes the free Ethics course. Additional discounts cannot be applied to this special package price. Normal terms and conditions of the Refer a PE program apply. You may earn credit for the free course one time only. No substitutions are permitted.
To receive PDH credit for this course, you must pass a multiple-choice quiz. Click the button below to Purchase Course and Take Quiz. To take the quiz, your computer must be set to accept cookies. See how to check your cookie settings.
