Water Quality: An Introduction - Hardcover

Boyd, Claude E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792378539 ISBN 13: 9780792378532

Publisher: Springer, 2000

Synopsis

Water quality is important to everyone, but professionals in many disciplines need an understanding of this subject. Although water quality is complex, its general aspects can be grasped readily and with little background - only introductory chemistry and biology and a little algebra are needed. Unfortunately, the teaching of water quality is not well organized. In most colleges and universities, water quality instruction is given in certain engineering curricula and in aquatic ecology or fisheries curricula. There also is brief attention to selected topics on water quality in numerous classes in other curricula. Water quality training in engineering is highly specialized and directed by necessity towards water supply and water treatment, while the focus in aquatic ecology and fisheries is on biological water quality and pollution. Few students venture into specialized classes outside of their curricula, and as a result, their formal training in water quality is greatly restricted. Self-education by reading texts and reference books on water quality is difficult. Authors of water quality books seem to be more interested in presenting a rigorous, detailed treatment than in focusing on simplicity and clarity. Chemical aspects of water quality often are presented at a level requiring fairly advanced mathematics and physical chemistry, and biological discussions may be quite advanced and theoretical. I have taught water quality to seniors and graduate students in agriculture, wildlife and fisheries, environmental sciences, economics, and similar disciplines for many years.

About this title

From the Back Cover

This book presents the basic aspects of water quality, emphasizing physical, chemical, and biological factors.  The study of water quality draws information from a variety of disciplines including chemistry, biology, mathematics, physics, engineering, and resource management.

University training in water quality is often limited to specialized courses in engineering, ecology, and fisheries curricula. This book also offers a basic understanding of water quality to professionals who are not formally trained in the subject.

The revised second edition updates and expands the discussion, and incorporates additional figures and illustrative problems. Improvements include a new chapter on basic chemistry, a more comprehensive chapter on hydrology, and an updated chapter on regulations and standards.

Because it employs only first-year college-level chemistry and very basic physics, the book is well-suited as the foundation for a general introductory course in water quality. It is equally useful as a guide for self-study and an in-depth resource for general readers.

Synopsis

Water quality is essential to the welfare of humans and aquatic ecosystems. The study of water quality draws information from a variety of disciplines including chemistry, biology, mathematics, physics, engineering, and resource management. University training in water quality often is limited to specialized courses in engineering, ecology, and fisheries curricula. Therefore, many professionals who need a basic understanding of water quality are not formally trained in the subject. "Water Quality: An Introduction" provides an in-depth but relatively simple treatment of water quality, including a discussion of basic physical, chemical, and biological principles. Effort has been made to use physical and chemical principles to explain the factors controlling the quality of natural waters. "Water Quality: An Introduction" is an excellent text for a general course in water quality or as a guide for self-study.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792378539
• ISBN 13: 9780792378532
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 340