passing the torch

I have been a consulting engineer for over 20 years now, and this book has a lot to offer. It sits on the top shelf of my bookcase when I need simple answers fast. The original edition of this book was essentially a summarization of design manuals published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the late 1970's and early 1980's. If you are old enough to have these original "purple manuals" on your shelf (and actually use them), then you probably don't need this book.

But the reality in the environmental engineering field is that most of the "old guard" who worked in the Construction Grants and Superfund program are at, or close, to retirement. If you are part of the new generation entering the field, this is a great book as it essentially encapsulates 4 of the old EPA manuals, plus you get the benefit of the extensive career experience of the authors.

This book did not get 5 stars in my review because most of the data analysis is from the late 1980's and early 1990's, and there are a lot empirical equations drawn from this old (and limited) data set. Most of the observations on "new" technology developments are in the literature review sections and the design equations have not necessarily been updated to reflect new research findings. Since 90% of the data on natural treatment systems has been published in the last 10 years, readers should be aware that assumptions behind old equation sets are limited and need to treated critically.

If you have an interest in natural wastewater treatment systems, this is a good starting point for the environmental engineer and a great overview manual for other practitioners in the field. If you want to specialize at a graduate-school level in a particular technology like constructed wetlands or pond systems, then you will have to dig deeper to find the cutting edge in more specialized books and the research journal literature.

[Saturday, November 24, 2007]

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