Course overview
Designing large-scale water supply systems or local-scale urban stormwater systems requires excellent knowledge of hydrology and climate science, water quality, statistics and risk estimation, and a diversity of catchment modelling tools. This course will develop the fundamental understanding as well as the engineering design tools and principles to design the water supply and drainage infrastructure needed to meet the demands of an increasing population and changing climate over the 21st century. Topics will be covered from the following: (1) water sensitive urban design approaches to managing urban stormwater quantity and quality; (2) reservoir modelling, including continuous rainfall-runoff modelling, yield assessments and water demand estimation; (3) climate change impact assessments; (4) stochastic generation of rainfall time series; and (5) environmental flow requirements.
Course learning outcomes
- Explain the key principles of various stormwater treatment measures and apply the stormwater treatment train to a real-world design problem
- Apply a computer modelling package (MUSIC) to evaluate stormwater treatment measures to improve stormwater quality
- Select, justify and apply one or several methods for estimating catchment-average rainfall, evapotranspiration and runoff
- Develop and calibrate one or several rainfall-runoff models, under both historical climate and future climate change settings
- Differentiate between alternative methods for estimating municipal water demand, and use one or several selected methods to estimate water demand
- Apply a computer modelling package (Source) to simulate reservoir behaviour, and elect and justify possible reservoir design decisions that meet water demand while minimising cost and environmental impacts
- Describe the theoretical basis and need for stochastic methods in reservoir design, and apply a stochastic model to a real-world design project
- Write a high-quality professional engineering reports