Читать книгу Practical Wastewater Treatment - David L. Russell - Страница 11

The first edition of this book was developed from a course I taught for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. It was a first attempt to introduce industrial wastewater treatment theory, practices, and issues into the Chemical Engineering community as a stand‐alone discipline. It ultimately led to the first edition of this book.

There is a natural separation between industry and academia, and consequently the academics teach the basics of engineering, but more and more the separation between the way the subject material is taught and the way it is practiced is growing. Historically, much of the wastewater treatment field has been the provenance of the civil engineering community because of its association with sanitary engineering. Much of the time I spent in consulting, designing, and supervising the construction of municipal wastewater treatment plants was profoundly formulaic, and a largely mechanical exercise requiring little imagination and presenting few new challenges. The treatment of industrial wastes was far more interesting because the wastes varied so greatly, and their treatment required imagination and research.

My introduction to industrial wastewater treatment came through a Philadelphia‐based consulting company, and then subsequent work assignments for companies specializing in industrial wastewater treatment, and ultimately into the chemical industry. At one point, along the way, I realized that I was much more at home with the chemical engineers than with the civil engineers, and I still am.

This book was developed to give the student and the experienced practitioner some information and balance with regard to industrial practices and goals, and to describe how the water industry works, and what is important in it. I have tried to cover a wide range of topics to dump the more than 40 years of my experience into this brief volume to help the reader investigate the topics, and point out useful tools for further study and mastery of the subjects. I do not try to solve problems for the reader, but have provided a few problems on topics of interest.

Mistakes in this volume are mine alone. In compiling this work, I have amassed a wide list of reference materials, and have attempted to download a copy of the references for my own use, and to make them available to others. The Internet is full of both permanent and temporary information. Some of the information I have provided through links will undoubtedly be obsolete by the time this book is published or has a few years of age on it. So, if in researching the topics in the book, one finds that a key topic or paper is missing, contact me, and I will send you a copy of the individual paper, or the entire set of references for your digital library.

Dave Russell, PE

(dlr@mindspring.com)