WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING?

Environmental Engineering is the discipline of engineering that focuses on:

• Best use of natural resources such as air, water and soil
• Control and treatment of factors resulting in the degradation of said resources
• Ensuring sustainable development by preventing environmental degradation

Engineering can be defined as the application of PLANNING, DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION or MANAGEMENT phases of a structure, object or a system that benefits the society, within the basis of a scientific framework. 

It can be seen that the structure, materials and systems operated by the environmental engineers are developed with the aim of preservation and improvement of environmental quality as well as health and prosperity of the society.

WHAT IS NOT ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING?

• Park and yard design,
• Tree planting
• Flower watering

ARE NOT ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING!

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN ENVIRONMENTALIST AND AN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER?

ENVIRONMENTALIST: Anyone who is interested in solving environmental problems and putting a voluntary effort in this regard is an environmentalist.

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER: Utilizes scientific and technological resources in order to solve environmental problems, proposes solution methods, applies these solutions.

Working Areas of Environmental Engineers

Can be listed as, 

• Drinking water supply, protection of water resources against pollution and project design of treatment facilities
• Drinking water, sewerage and rainwater network design and construction,
• System selection, project design, construction and operation of domestic and industrial wastewater treatment facilities,
• Discharging treated wastewater into the receiving environment and investigating its possible effects,
• Preparation of environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for industrial and infrastructure investments and monitoring the process,
• Risk analysis and evaluation,
• Collection, transportation, storage, recycling and disposal of solid waste,
• Disposal of hazardous and harmful wastes,
• Air pollution and control,
• Environmental management and planning,
• Protection of soil and groundwater resources against pollution.

Environmental Engineering, having been emerged as a separate field from the Health Engineering discipline within the Department of Civil Engineering, has become more developed today and has been transformed from the stage of public health protection to system-oriented environmental protection.