ECTS credits ECTS credits: 3.5
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Student's work ECTS: 59.5 Hours of tutorials: 3.5 Expository Class: 10.5 Interactive Classroom: 14 Total: 87.5
Use languages Spanish, Galician, English
Type: Ordinary subject Master’s Degree RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: Chemistry Engineering
Areas: Chemical Engineering
Center Higher Technical Engineering School
Call: First Semester
Teaching: Sin docencia (Extinguida)
Enrolment: No Matriculable | 1st year (Yes)
0.- Basic course information
Name and code:
Subject: Operation of water treatment plants
Code: P4012-203
Type: Elective
Nº of credits: 3,5 ECTS
Module: 2 (Water Treatment)
Calendar: see web page (www.usc.es/etse)
Lecturer
Francisco Omil Prieto
Dept. Chemical Engineering
Phone: 16805
email: francisco.omil [at] usc.es (francisco[dot]omil[at]usc[dot]es)
Language
English (with the exception of the 8 hours corresponding to the invited lecturers from companies and administration).
Tutorials
Tuesdays, 14 to 15h at Desk 3.1 (Chemical Eng. Dept).
1.- Objectives
The course has a perspective mainly applied, where the student will be able to learn the fundamentals of the selection and design of treatment plants for both drinking water and wastewater.
The contents are focused on the study of the main parameters of design and construction of several selected and representative drinking water plants, sewage treatment plants and industrial wastewater treatment plants, considering also their operation and maintenance.
This course is practically oriented, especially addressing the most frequent issues and problems which an environmental engineer has to deal with, considering also a technical visit to an industrial installation.
The contents that will be developed along the academic year are summarised in short in the descriptor available in the study plan of the Master on Environmental Engineering:
“Operation of Drinking Water Plants (DWP), urban Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP): common problems and troubleshooting. Optimisation of processes and economical issues. Emergent challenges: nutrients, micropollutants and sludge management”.
The complete syllabus of the subject is structured along 4 basic units, complemented with a seminar programme given by directive staff from important representative companies in this field (Unit 0):
Syllabus
Unit 0. Participation of lecturers from relevant companies (6 h)
Lectures will be given by recognised persons from the private and public sector, who will be invited to give specific talks showing the perspective of companies and the public sector related to the field of water treatment. These talks will be given in Spanish.
Unit 1. Ethical, safety, risk and maintenance aspects (2 h)
Ethical aspects. Health and safety in the operation of water treatment plants: physical, chemical and biological risks. Maintenance of machinery. Types of maintenance: corrective, preventive and predictive.
Unit 2. Study and operation of drinking water plants (4 h)
Types of units more frequently used in drinking water plants. More common problems. Cost analysis: installation and operation. Analysis of a specific industrial plant.
Unit 3. Study and operation of sewage treatment plants (6 h)
Types of units more frequently used in sewage treatment plants in Galicia. More common problems. Start-up, monitoring and maintenance protocols. Cost analysis: installation and operation. Analysis of an specific industrial sewage treatment plant and technical visit.
Unit 4. Study and operation of industrial wastewater treatment plants (8 h)
Types of industrial wastewaters. Plants based on anaerobic processes. More common problems. Start-up, monitoring and maintenance protocols. Cost analysis: installation and operation. Analysis of an specific industrial wastewater treatment plant.
BASIC BOOKS
• Operation of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants: MoP No. 11, Sixth Edition. Water Environment Federation, 2008. ISBN: 9780071543675.
available on-line through McGraw Hill Access Engineering: https://www.accessengineeringlibrary.com/content/book/9780071543675
• Metcalf & Eddy Inc. "Wastewater Engineering. Treatment and reuse ". 4ª Edición. Editorial Mc-Graw Hill, (2003). Sinatura ETSE: A213 13 H (ordered to have on-line)
COMPLEMENTARY BOOKS
• Water Environment Federation. Operation of municipal wastewater treatment plants (5ª Ed.). Virginia: WEF Manual of Practice, 1996. ISBN 1-57278-040-1.
Sinatura ETSE: 214 6 A (1-3)
• LK Wang, YT Hung, HH Lo and C Yapijakis (eds.). Hazardous Industrial Waste Treatment.
Taylor & Francis Group. CRC Press. Boca-Raton, FL (USA) 2006. ISBN 0-8943-7574-6
Sinatura ETSE: A 213-52
• Judd S. The MBR book (2ª Ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2011. ISBN 978-1-843-39518-8.
Sinatura ETSE: 213 32 A
• Poch, M. y J. M. Lema (Eds) Tecnologías y estrategias para el rediseño de EDAR.
USC: Santiago de Compostela, 2008. ISBN 978-84-691-7741-9.
Sinatura ETSE: 213 45 1
• S. Suárez & J. M. Lema (Eds). Innovative Wastewater Treatment & Resource Recovery Technologies: Impacts on Energy, Economy and Environment. IWA Publishing, 2017. ISBN 978 1780407869.
Sinatura ETSE: A213 62
• Speece, R.E. Anaerobic biotechnology for industrial wastewaters.
Nashville: Archae Press, 1996. ISBN 0-9650226-0-9.
Sinatura ETSE: 213 9
• Van Haandel, A.C. and Lettinga, G. Anaerobic sewage treatment.
Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1994. ISBN 0-471-95121-8.
Sinatura ETSE: 213 22
ARTICLES
• M. T. Seijas, D. Lago y F. Omil (2003). “Identificación de problemas durante la operación de una EDAR municipal y propuesta de acciones correctoras”. Tecnología del Agua, 234, 33-40.
• L.M. Morón, H. Laíño y F. Omil (2006). “Influencia de las condiciones de operación de una EDAR municipal en las características de sedimentabilidad de la biomasa: 1. Descripción y análisis de la operación de la EDAR”. Tecnología del Agua, 269, 30-38.
• L.M. Morón, H. Laíño y F. OMIL (2006). “Influencia de las condiciones de operación de una EDAR municipal en las características de sedimentabilidad de la biomasa: 2. Estudio morfológico y estructural de la biomasa”. Tecnología del Agua, 270, 32-42.
This subject will give to the students a number of general competences, desirable for every universitary study, as well as other more specific ones, more linked to the field of Environmental Engineering. The competences that will be especially developed in this subject are the following:
Basic and General
• CB6 - To acquire and understand knowledge that contribute to be original in the development and / or application of ideas, often in a context of research.
• CB7 - That the students can apply the acquired knowledge and capacity of resolution of problems in environments new or little known inside more wide contexts (or multidisciplinary) related to the area of study
• CB8 - That the students are capable of integrating knowledge and to face the complexity of formulating judgments from an information that, being incomplete or limited, includes reflections on the social responsibilities and ethics linked to the application of those knowledge and judgments.
• CB9 - That the students will be able to communicate their conclusions and knowledge to public specialized and not specialized in a clear way and without ambiguities
• CB10 - That the students acquire the skills of learning that allow them to continue studying in a way that will be to a great extent self-guided or autonomous.
• G01 - To identify and to enunciate environmental problems
Specific
• E14 - To know in depth the technologies, tools and skills in the field of the environmental engineering.
• E22 - To organize and to plan the management of an environmental problem, installation or environmental service.
• E26 - To manage in an efficient way the resources and energies, promoting the development and the use of renewable energies
• E32 - To compare and to select technical alternatives
• E33 - To identify emergent technologies
The Virtual Classroom of the USC will be used through the Moodle application, as a communication tool with the students, offering them information on the teaching program throughout the course in the classroom and complementary materials for the study of the subject (teacher's notes as well as as scientific-technical articles), promoting the autonomous study of the student and the use of bibliographic sources in English.
At the beginning of the course, the following stuff will be distributed among the students in electronic format:
• ACADEMIC GUIDE: the academic guide aprobed for the subject (galego, castelán, english).
• SCHEDULE: with a detailed planning of activities, indicating the needed articles or book chapters to be read previously to the each lecture.
• PRESENTATIONS: the key-presentations used by the lecturer, which contain the main issues of each unit.
• COMPLEMENTARY STUFF: relevant legislation, scientific papers, web links, etc.
SCENARIO 1 (without restrictions to physical presence)
Presential teaching
• Expository and interactive classes: The classes will be held combining both the master class (presentation and discussion of topics) and in the form of seminars (carrying out exercises) where the teacher will try to emphasize the most outstanding aspects of the state of the art, and where the assimilation of content by the students will be verified. It is therefore very important that the student works on the material available to promote teacher-student interaction.
• Teamwork: It is planned to carry out a work (individual or in a team according to the number of enrolled) by the students focused on the analysis of a specific treatment plant, be it purification, urban or industrial WWTP where it will be covered from the approach of the problem (industrial sector, manufacturing process), the characterization of the water to be treated, the treatment strategy and the treatment process to obtain the required effluent quality. Numerical quantification is important, especially the characterization of the waters as well as the flow diagram of the treatment process considered.
• Visit to an industrial facility: A visit to a treatment plant (WWTP or DWP) is contemplated within the framework of the compulsory subject "Water Treatment Technologies", as well as the participation of 3 speakers from industrial sector.
• Group Tutoring: A group tutoring session will be carried out to specifically address the follow-up of said work to be carried out through a videoconference on the MS Teams platform. This work must be defined before the Christmas break.
Telematic teaching
• Individual Tutoring: will be done by means of MS Teams at the request of the student.
In cases of fraudulent completion of exercises or tests, the provisions of the Regulations for the evaluation of the academic performance of students and the review of grades will apply.
CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT (CA)
The Master in Environmental Engineering establishes that the minimum weighting of the CA is 50%, the remaining 50% corresponding to a final test.
In this subject, this weighting will be used for the CA: 50%.
SCENARIO 1 (without restrictions to physical presence)
The student's grade is a weighted average between the student's performance in the parts in which the student is evaluated: exam, performance in the classroom (participation, cooperative work).
Activities comprised in the CA
The CA comprises the following activities:
• Questionnaires: 3 short questionnaires (15 min) to be carried out after each thematic block. To be carried out individually. Presential.
• Teamwork Teamwork will consist of a brief presentation (around 5 'maximum per person). Quantitative information will be especially valued. Presential.
• With “proactive behavior in the classroom” the aim is to assess the daily attitude of each student, especially: a) to be able to follow the daily progress of the subject and the discussions that take place in the classroom; b) pertinent comments on what was discussed; c) motivation and positive attitude in class, among others. This item will be made public at the end of December so that students can improve it towards the end of the subject. Their attitude towards the external lecturers will be taken into special consideration, in fact, each session will be chaired by a team of students who will manage both their own questions and those of the rest of their classmates. To be carried out individually. Presential.
Final examination (presential)
• The final exam will consist of short questions about the contents seen in the subject. To be carried out individually. Presential. It is not compulsory if the 3 questionnaires were done and at least 30% of the grade was achieved.
The consideration of "not presented" will be had if no evaluation activity is attended (exam, teamwork or technical visit). If only one of them is not attended, the grade at the first opportunity will be "failed".
Those who have to attend the second opportunity will retain the qualifications obtained in teamwork and proactive behavior in the classroom. If you have not participated in the teamwork, the exam will include some specific questions.
Distribution of the marks
Continuous Assessment 5 – 10 points
- Questionnaires (elective) 0 – 5 Presential
- Teamwork 4 Presential
- Proactivity 1 Presential
Final Exam 0 - 5 points Presential
TOTAL 10 points
ASSESSMENT OF COMPETENCES
Expositive classes (including plenary lectures): G01, CB6, CB10, E26, E33
Proactivity: G01, CB7, CB8, CB9, E14
Teamwork: G01, CB6, CB7, CB8, CB9, E14, E22, E32
Questionnaires and exams: CB6, CB10, E14, E32, E33
This subject has 3,5 ECTS which represents an amount of work distributed as shown in the following table. The number of hours spent in classroom include lectures, seminars, presentation and tutorials for groups. Furthermore, it is estimated that a number of hours corresponding to personal work is necessary for the different activities.
Activity Classroom (h) Personal work (h) ECTS
Lectures 12,0 30,0 2,1
Seminars 14,0 28,0 2,3
Tutorials 2,0 1,0 0,1
Total 28,0 59,0 3,5
It is important that students previously study those texts, documents or articles that are indicated in the teaching guide. It is essential to have a medium competence of the English language.
The use of the virtual campus is crucial for all the activities to be carried out.
Recommendations for telematics teaching:
• In accordance with the standards of telematic assessment, it is necessary to have a microphone and a camera to participate in telematic exams, in addition to the fact that these devices greatly improve interaction with the teacher.
• Improve informational and digital skills with the resources available at USC.
9.- Contingency Plan
In cases of fraudulent completion of exercises or tests, the provisions of the Regulations for the evaluation of the academic performance of students and the review of grades will apply.
A) TEACHING METHODOLOGY
Contingency plan for remote teaching activities:
• They will be carried out synchronously and always according to the schedule established by the center, through the different telematic means available at USC, preferably the Virtual Campus and / or Ms Teams.
• Due to the nature and content of this subject, as well as the methodology used, the main difference between presential and remote teaching is in the case of the technical visit, which will be virtual.
• To carry out tutorial sessions, as well as to maintain direct communication both between the students themselves and between them and the teacher, they can be done through the Virtual Campus forum, through MS TEAMS or by email.
More specifically, the specific methodologies for each scenario are indicated below.
SCENARIO 2
Presential and telematic teaching
• Expositive and interactive classes: Since the number of students for this elective subject is usually below 15, there will be no modifications in relation with Scenario 1.
• Visit to an industrial installation. Presentially.
Telematic teaching
• Group Tutoring session: a group tutoring session will be carried out to specifically address the follow-up of the teamwork, through a videoconference with MS Teams. The topic of the teamwork must be defined before the Christmas break.
• Teamwork: students are planning to carry out teamwork, which they will present orally in the last tutorial session of the subject through MS Teams.
• Individualized tutorial sessions: will be carried out through the MS Teams platform.
SCENARIO 3 (ETSE closure)
Telematic teaching
• Expositive and interactive classes: Teams sessions will be used through which the approved calendar will be followed and where daily contact with students will always be promoted, combining the different resources (teacher explanations, video viewing, discussion sessions, resources Web…).
• Virtual visit to an industrial facility through a Teams session where the teacher will guide them through a specific process (photographs, discussion of technical data, videos, press releases ...).
• Group Tutoring session: a group tutoring session will be carried out to specifically address the follow-up of the teamwork, through a videoconference with MS Teams. The topic of the teamwork must be defined before the Christmas break.
• Teamwork: students are planning to carry out teamwork, which they will present orally in the last tutorial session of the subject through MS Teams.
• Individualized tutorial sessions: will be carried out through the MS Teams platform.
b) ASSESSMENT SYTEMS
The evaluation system will be exactly the same regardless of the teaching method used (presential or virtual), with the only difference that the evaluation activities will be carried out, as established by the competent authorities, either in person in the classroom or remotely through the telematic means available at the USC. The following table indicates the evaluation modality for each activity.
Continuous Assessment Scenario 2 Scenario 3
- Questionnaires Telematic, synchronous Telematic, synchronous
- Team work Telematic, asynchronous Telematic, asynchronous
- Proactivity Telematic, synchronous Telematic, synchronous
Final Exam Presential -
Telematic, synchronous Telematic, synchronous
Francisco Omil Prieto
Coordinador/a- Department
- Chemistry Engineering
- Area
- Chemical Engineering
- Phone
- 881816805
- francisco.omil [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Professor
| Monday | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 13:00-14:00 | Grupo /CLE_01_inglés | English | Classroom A8 |
| Thursday | |||
| 13:00-14:00 | Grupo /CLE_01_inglés | English | Classroom A8 |
| 02.09.2022 10:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01_inglés | Classroom A8 |
| 02.09.2022 10:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_01_inglés | Classroom A8 |
| 06.30.2022 16:00-19:30 | Grupo /CLE_01_inglés | Classroom A8 |
| 06.30.2022 16:00-19:30 | Grupo /CLIS_01_inglés | Classroom A8 |