FE Exam Review: Environmental - Environmental Regulations - Water Quality - Wastewater Treatment - Water Treatment - Fate and Transport - Air Pollution

Sep 18, 2026

Uploaded by Himbo

FE Exam Review: Environmental concentrates on the Environmental Engineering content typically tested in the FE exam, focusing on the EVEN afternoon weighting and the most relevant formula book pages. It covers water resources distributions and hydrology, water and wastewater treatment processes, air quality engineering concepts, and solid and hazardous waste topics. The review also summarizes key environmental regulations (Clean Water Act, SDWA, CAA, RCRA, CERCLA, OSHA, NEPA) and includes problem-solving tips, unit conversions, mass balance methods, and fate-and-transport modeling such as Streeter-Phelps and Monod kinetics.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages38

Reading Time1 h 36 min

AccessFree to download

FE Exam Review: Environmental

EVEN afternoon coverage

Environmental Regulations

Water Quality

Fate and Transport

Air Pollution

FE Exam Review: Environmental • Civil Engineering afternoon: 12% EVEN – Water quality (ground and surface) – Air quality – Solid/hazardous waste – Sanitary sewer system loads – Basic tests (e.g. , water, wastewater, air) – Environmental regulations – Water treatment and wastewater treatment (e.g. , primary, secondary, tertiary) Most info in the EVEN section of FE formula book pg. 170-192 Also Fluids, Chemistry, and Biology sections may help 1 FE Exam Review: Environmental EVEN majors or if you concentrated in environ. & proficient in water • EVEN afternoon: (60 ?s; pg. 170-192) – Water Resources (distrib/coll, hydrol, fluids) 25% • See CVEN pg. 159-161, – Water & WW (inc. micro/ecol see p. 91-99 , env chem) 30% – Air Quality Engrg (stds, control, atm sci) 15% – Solid & Hazardous Waste Engrg 15% • SW, HazW, site remediation, geohydrology, geotechnology – Env Science & Management 15% • OSHA, radiation health/waste mgmt, env monitoring & sampling, pollutant fate & transport (soil/air/water), pollution prevention TIPS • Watch units! – Water: ppm = mg/L; ppb = μg/L; – Soil: ppm = mg/kg; – Air ppm IS NOT mg/L! • AIR conc in ppm-v = 100-1000x air in mg/L – Need molecular weight; molar volume – Pg. 19-20 of formula book has conversion factors • Frequently, you will use a MASS BALANCE approach • Review your CVEN 3414 homeworks/text; – Review CVEN 3424 if you had the course • Practice problems from: Metcalf & Eddy Wastewater Engrg; LaGrega Haz Waste; Wark & Warner Air Pollution; Vesilind et al. Solid Waste Engineering; Ray Environmental Engineering 3 Environmental Regulations • Clean Water Act – NPDES permits for discharge to surface waters • Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) – Sets MCLs for acceptable concentrations of contaminants in public drinking water supplies; sets treatment requirements for pathogens • Clean Air Act (CAA) set National Ambient Air Quality Stds – Regulates criteria pollutants (CO, ozone, NOx, SOx, PM, lead) – Regulates hazardous air pollutants and sets Max Achiev Control Tech • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) – Hazardous Waste Subtitle C (cradle to grave, defined HazW) – Solid waste Title D, Medical waste Subtitle J, Underground storage tanks Subtitle I • Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA; “Superfund”) – Clean up worst historically contaminated sites in the US • OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) – Safety for workers; such as HAP concs in air • National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) – Requires Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for federal projects 4 Water Quality • Wastewater – Solids: TDS, VDS, TSS, VSS – BOD 5 or COD p. 175 • BOD5 = BODu (1 – e-kt ), if k is base e deoxygenation rate constant (sometimes use base 10) – Organic nitrogen (as N) – Ammonia nitrogen (NH 3-N) – TKN = organic N + ammonia N – Total phosphorus WasteWater Tmt (p. 186-190) • Activated sludge: plug flow or CMFR, biomass eqn; typical operating parameters • Clarifier [primary, secondary] – mass balance; design by overflow rate, HRT – SVI = sludge volume index (settlability) • Aerobic digestion = HRT, solids load, O2… • Anaerobic digestion = SRT, solids load, CH4… • Facultative pond = BOD loading, depth, HRT • Disinfection = chlorine (CT) or UV common Water Tmt (w/ww class) • GAC sorption & isotherms (also HazW) – Removes organics • Air stripping (also HazW)– remove volatiles • Sedimentation/clarifiers – remove particles • Filtration – remove based on size • Softening – remove hardness (Ca +2 , Mg +2 ,…) • Flocculation – agglomerate to larger particles • Membranes – RO (desalination), NF, UF, MF • Disinfection – chlorine, UV, ozone, chloramine… Fate and Transport • Streeter Phelps for oxygen sag in stream when ww with BOD is discharged (p. 175) – DO sag curve – Oxygen saturation conc. at 20o C is 9.1 m

FAQs

What topics are emphasized in the FE EVEN afternoon environmental section?

The review highlights water resources (distribution, hydrology, fluids), water and wastewater including micro/ecology and environmental chemistry, air quality engineering (standards, control, atmospheric science), solid and hazardous waste engineering, and environmental science and management.

Which major environmental regulations are listed for exam study?

It lists the Clean Water Act (including NPDES), Safe Drinking Water Act (MCLs and pathogen treatment), Clean Air Act (ambient air quality standards and pollutant controls), RCRA (hazardous waste and solid waste titles), CERCLA “Superfund,” OSHA worker safety, and NEPA requirements for Environmental Impact Statements.

What key wastewater and water treatment processes are covered?

For wastewater it covers solids categories and BOD/COD, activated sludge, clarification and design concepts like overflow rate and HRT, digestion (aerobic/anaerobic), facultative ponds, and disinfection. For water treatment it includes GAC adsorption, air stripping, sedimentation/clarifiers, filtration, softening, flocculation, membranes (RO/NF/UF/MF), and disinfection methods.

Sep 18, 2026

Uploaded by Himbo