Environmental Engineers
Have you ever thought about the water you quench your thirst with? The water you shower in? The water you use to prepare your food and drinks? Are you certain it's a hundred percent clean and safe? Let's share some facts about water you may never have heard before. Every day, 2 million tons of sewage and factory and agricultural waste are dumped into the world's rivers, oceans, seas, and lakes. Every year, 6 billion pounds of trash are dumped into the oceans. In developing countries, 70% of industrial waste is disposed of in water, and 80% of sewage is discharged into rivers and lakes. As for death statistics related to water: every year, 250 million people around the world die from diseases caused by contaminated water, and 15 million children lose their lives every year as a result of drinking unclean water. If the water that reaches you is good and safe for all your uses, you owe your gratitude to the people whose entire job is testing, treating, and purifying water before it reaches you, your livestock farms, and the agricultural land that grows the crops we live on โ those people are environmental engineers. Environmental engineers travel to countries around the world to improve the lives of their citizens, searching for the best ways and solutions to improve the water that reaches them, and they also work on developing safer, more environmentally friendly methods for disposing of waste, garbage, and sewage. Environmental engineers may also specialize in reducing air and soil pollutants. An environmental engineer handles everything related to the quality of the water and air we breathe and the soil we grow our crops in and build our homes on โ they're capable of changing the lives of millions of people for the better through the research, experiments, and procedures they carry out every day.
Meet the Writer: Waleed Abo Omiraa
What You'll Actually Do
The core tasks and responsibilities that fill a typical day.
- Prepare, review, or update environmental investigation or recommendation reports.
- Obtain, update, or maintain plans, permits, or standard operating procedures.
- Provide technical support for environmental remediation or litigation projects, including remediation system design or determination of regulatory applicability.
- Monitor progress of environmental improvement programs.
- Inspect industrial or municipal facilities or programs to evaluate operational effectiveness or ensure compliance with environmental regulations.
- Provide administrative support for projects by collecting data, providing project documentation, training staff, or performing other general administrative duties.
- Develop proposed project objectives and targets and report to management on progress in attaining them.
- Advise corporations or government agencies of procedures to follow in cleaning up contaminated sites to protect people and the environment.
- Advise industries or government agencies about environmental policies and standards.
- Inform company employees or other interested parties of environmental issues.
- Assess the existing or potential environmental impact of land use projects on air, water, or land.
- Assist in budget implementation, forecasts, or administration.
- Develop site-specific health and safety protocols, such as spill contingency plans or methods for loading or transporting waste.
- Coordinate or manage environmental protection programs or projects, assigning or evaluating work.
- Serve as liaison with federal, state, or local agencies or officials on issues pertaining to solid or hazardous waste program requirements.
- Prepare hazardous waste manifests or land disposal restriction notifications.
- Develop or present environmental compliance training or orientation sessions.
- Develop, implement, or manage plans or programs related to conservation or management of natural resources.
- Request bids from suppliers or consultants.
- Provide environmental engineering assistance in network analysis, regulatory analysis, or planning or reviewing database development.
- Design, or supervise the design of, systems, processes, or equipment for control, management, or remediation of water, air, or soil quality.
- Direct installation or operation of environmental monitoring devices or supervise related data collection programs.
- Prepare or present public briefings on the status of environmental engineering projects.
- Write reports or articles for Web sites or newsletters related to environmental engineering issues.
- Collaborate with environmental scientists, planners, hazardous waste technicians, engineers, experts in law or business, or other specialists to address environmental problems.
- Provide assistance with planning, quality assurance, safety inspection protocols, or sampling as part of a team conducting multimedia inspections at complex facilities.
- Prepare, maintain, or revise quality assurance documentation or procedures.
- Attend professional conferences to share information.