CE 4120: Experimental Analyses in Environmental Engineering
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Instructor:
Ms. Lisa Colosi (lmc6b@virginia.edu)
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environ. Engineering
D-219 Thornton Hall; Tel: (434) 924-7961; Office Hours TBD
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Prerequisites:
CE 2100 (Introduction to Environmental Engineering) and CE 3210
(Fluid Mechanics); or equivalents
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Lecture:
Wed
Lab:
Fri 10:15 am - 11:45 am pm in THN D-105
Fri 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm in THN D-105
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Text
Weekly course materials will be available for download from Collab.
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Website:
Collab CE 4120-6500 SP 2012
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Objectives. This course is a general introduction to experimental analysis as it pertains
to environmental engineering. Following successful completion of this course, students
will be able to: formulate a hypothesis related to environmental phenomena; design a
series of experiments to evaluate this hypothesis on the basis of literature data; conduct
the experiments safely using good laboratory technique; interpret their measurements
using simple but powerful statistical tools; and meaningfully disseminate their results
and conclusions in both written and oral formats.
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Academic Integrity. Students are reminded of their pledge to uphold the University
Honor System. Please refer to http://www.virginia.edu/honor/proc/fraud.html for
specific guidelines covering academic fraud as they may apply to this course.
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Grading. Final grades will be computed using the weights below. Information on each
component is provided in the subsequent paragraphs.
10:00 am – 10:50 am in THN D-222
Component
Full written laboratory reports (6)
Homework assignments
Midterm exam
Quizzes
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Percentage of Grade
50%
20%
15%
15%
Lab Reports. Six lab reports will be assigned over the course of the semester. Students
will work in teams of three to generate these reports, and all team members will receive
the same grade. It is expected that reports will be typed (1.5- line spacing), and figures
should be produced using a graphics software package capable of generating plots with
appropriate error bars (e.g. MS Excel, DeltaGraph, Freehand, etc). Reports will be due at
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the start of the lab section one week after completion of the associated lab exercise,
unless otherwise indicated.
Teams should structure their reports using the following content requirements:
 Abstract: Summarizes significance of the motivation/context of the work (1-2
sentences), provides a very brief statement of objective (1 sentence) and the
experimental approach used in the study (2-3 sentences), summarizes pertinent results
quantitatively (2-3 sentences – using numbers!), and identifies key conclusions which
can be drawn from results (1-2 sentences). As a general rule, abstracts do not contain
citations to previously published word.
 Introduction: Explains the motivation for the work (e.g., XXX is bad for the
environment), and summarizes with citations what other work has been done in this
area (if pertinent). The last 1-2 sentences of this section must clearly outline the
investigator’s governing hypothesis or objectives; e.g., “The objective of this study was
to evaluate XYZ hypothesis” or “We completed this study to measure ABC parameter”.
 Materials & Methods: The materials section identifies all chemical reagents and
equipment and pertinent pieces of laboratory equipment. The methods section
summarizes all experimental procedures at a level of detail that makes it possible for
other investigators to reproduce the experiment.
 Results: Outlines key experimental results in tables or figures. Table captions go at the
TOP of tables. Figure captions go at the BOTTOM of figures. Key results should be
plotted and discussed with confidence intervals, explaining how these were computed.
 Discussion: Interprets the results of the experiments, particularly with respect to
whether or not the investigator’s hypothesis/objective was successful. This section also
highlights comparisons between the new findings and previously published work and
sometimes identifies unexpected results or experimental difficulties.
 References: All references should be cited using the format of Environmental Science
and Technology, which is our field’s most prestigious journal. See example below.
Clarens, A.F.; Resurreccion, E.P.; White, M.A.; Colosi, L.M. Environmental life cycle
comparison of algae to other bioenergy feedstocks. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2010, 44
(5), 1813– 1819.
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Homework. Short homework assignments will be assigned during each of the weeks
that a full report is not due. These will also be due by at the start of the lab section one
week after completion of the associated lab exercise.
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Midterm. The midterm exam will comprise written assessments of the material
covered in both lecture and lab. The date for this exam is tentatively set for Wednesday
March 6 during the normally scheduled lecture time. We will not have a lab section that
week, and there will be no final examination for this course this year.
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Miscellaneous Policies.
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Disabilities. Students requiring special accommodations for a learning disability or
physical handicap must make arrangements with the instructor one week prior to
an exam or oral presentation.
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Teamwork: Because students will be permitted to pick their own lab partners, and
because collaborative learning is integral to the formation of competent engineers,
teams are encouraged to resolve on their own any problems that may arise over the
course of the semester. Serious conflicts should be brought to the instructor’s
attention, and students are encouraged to seek out a variety of partners for the
different assignments.
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Scheduling. Students who will be unable to attend class on the day of a laboratory
exercise, exam, or presentation for personal reasons (e.g. religious observances,
conferences, interviews, etc.) must contact the instructor at least one week in
advance. Instances in which a student misses an exam or assignment deadline
unexpectedly due to extenuating circumstances (e.g. personal or family emergency)
will be handled on a case-by-case basis, but students should make every effort to
contact the instructor prior to the start of class time on the day they will be absent.
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Re-grades. Requests for lab report or exam re-grades must be outlined in writing
and delivered to the instructor within one week of the date on which the paper was
returned. Assignments will not be accepted for reevaluation after this time.
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Late Work. All late lab reports and homework assignments will be subject to a 20%per day penalty.
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Feedback. Comments, complaints, and compliments regarding the course (structure,
grading scheme, work load, etc.) will be most welcome and greatly appreciated as
means to improve the learning experience during this and future semesters.
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Anticipated Coverage by Week
Dates*
Topic
Lecture Content
Laboratory Exercise
1/16
Introduction to Basic
Laboratory Practices - I
Laboratory safety and equipment, formulating solutions.
No lab first week.
1/23, 1/25
Introduction to Basic
Laboratory Practices - II
Confidence intervals and hypothesis testing.
Making solutions, statistics problem-solving.
1/30, 2/1*
Spectrophotometry and
Phosphorus Analysis
Standards and calibration curves, more hypothesis testing.
Formulate P standards and other solutions,
measure P in water samples.
2/6, 2/8
pH and Alkalinity - I
Definition of pH/alkalinity; sample calculations; acid rain.
Formulation of acid rain solution, acid-base
titration.
2/13. 2/15*
pH and Alkalinity - II
Carbonate equilibrium, pH control in natural systems, review of
reactor configurations.
Titration of simulated lake.
2/20, 2/22
Biological and Chemical
Oxygen Demand
Relevance to wastewater/water industry, theoretical and
operational considerations, calculations.
BOD5 analyses of synthetic wastewaters.
2/27, 3/1*
Coagulation and
Flocculation
Relevance to wastewater/water industry, theoretical and
operational considerations, Design of Experiment Analysis.
Optimizing turbidity removal. (Due 3/20)
3/5
Midterm Exam
3/13, 3/15
Spring Break 
3/20, 3/22
Aseptic Technique and
Microbial Growth
Microbes in the environmental laboratory, Monod growth
model, non-linear regression using method of least-squares.
Growth curve experiment.
3/27, 3/29*
Introduction to Liquid
Chromatography
Theory of separation and quantification, operational
considerations.
Analysis of an “emerging contaminant”
4/3, 4/5
Introduction to Atomic
Absorption Spectrometry
Theory of separation and quantification, operational
considerations, paired t-tests.
Soil washing and metals determination.
4/10, 4/12*
Assessing Surface Water
Contamination
Review of continuity, conservative and non-conservative
pollutants, introduction to fluorimetry.
4/17, 4/19
Wastewater Treatment
Analyses: Part I
Review of WWTP and the activated sludge process,
introduction to sequencing batch reactors.
Begin maintenance of WWTP SBRs.
4/24, 4/26*
Wastewater Treatment
Analyses: Part II
Wastewater treatment objectives and regulations,
characterizing influent and effluent quality.
Continued maintenance of SBRs; analyze
influent and effluents. (Due 5/9, 12 pm)
* Indicates weeks in which full laboratory reports will be assigned.
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Dye tracer study in creek.