Learn free Civil Engineering by Civilustaad about RAINWATER HARVESTING TANKS

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RAINWATER HARVESTING TANKS

Rainwater harvesting is a technique of collection and storage of rainwater into natural reservoirs or tanks, or the infiltration of surface water into subsurface aquifers (before it is lost as surface runoff). One method of rainwater harvesting is rooftop harvesting. 

With rooftop harvesting, mainly any surface — tiles, plastics, metal sheets, but not grass or palm leaf — can be used to intercept the flow of rainwater and give a household with high-quality drinking water and year-round storage. Other uses comprise water for livestock, gardens, and irrigation, etc.

The reasons for using rainwater harvesting systems answer three questions:

What: Rainwater harvesting will develop water supply, food production, and finally food security.

How: Since rainwater harvesting leads to water supply which leads to food security, this will significantly contribute to income generation.

Who: Water insecure households or individuals in rural areas will advantage the most from rainwater harvesting systems.

Learn free Civil Engineering by Civilustaad about LAKE IACOBDEAL

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LAKE IACOBDEAL

Lake Iacobdeal called by locals "The Fountain" is a man-made lake, formed into a cavetti resulted behind the withdrawal of granite. 

It is located in Turcoaia, Romania County, in a former quarry on the hill Iacobdeal.

The area was covered by water removal point to very harsh granite.

By exploiting the rock of the quarry it came in the deep of the granitic massif, attainment a feldspar vein, difficult to process. Hence, there is need for mass excavation of two galleries stones.

All through the works, dynamited, it was issued an acviver layer, with wealthy flow, under pressure, which threw along the excavation, filling them with water, then poured basin occupying quarry cuvette.

Learn free Civil Engineering by Civilustaad about HYDROSTATICS

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HYDROSTATICS

Hydrostatics, Branch of physics that deals with the characteristics of fluids at rest, chiefly with the pressure in a fluid or exerted by a fluid (gas or liquid) on an absorbed body. In applications, the philosophy of hydrostatics are used for problems connecting to pressure in deep water (pressure increases with depth) and high in the atmosphere (pressure lessens with altitude).

Learn free Civil Engineering by Civilustaad about FISH LADDER

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FISH LADDER

A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass or fish steps, is a structure on or approximately artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to aid diadromous fishes' natural migration.

Most fishways facilitate fish to pass around the barriers by swimming and leaping up a series of comparatively low steps (hence the term ladder) into the waters on the other side.

The velocity of water falling above the steps has to be great adequate to attract the fish to the ladder, but it cannot be so great that it washes fish back downstream or exhausts them to the point of incapability to continue their journey upriver.

Learn free Civil Engineering by Civilustaad about BRIDGE INSPECTION

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BRIDGE INSPECTION

Bridges are considered STRUCTURALLY DEFICIENT if considerable load-carrying elements are found to be in poor or inferior condition due to deterioration and/or damage, or the competence of the waterway opening provided is determined to be extremely inadequate. The fact that a bridge is structurally deficient does not immediate implies that it is probable to collapse or that it is unsafe.

Bridges are considered FUNCTIONALLY OBSOLETE when the geometry of the road no longer meets today’s least design standards for width or vertical learance for that roadway classifications, or the sufficiency of the waterway opening provided is determined to be insufficient. The fact that a bridge is functionally obsolete does not imply that it is insecure. The SUFFICIENCY RATING of a bridge is a single number from 0 (low) to 100 (high) taking into account, bridge condition, geometry, traffic, and how well the waterway passes beneath the bridge. Sufficiency rating is used to determine funding eligibility. A low sufficiency rating does not essentially mean the bridge is unsafe or in need or immediate repair.

A FRACTURE CRITICAL MEMBER is a steel member in tension that does not have sufficient additional, structural members to sufficiently redistribute load in the bridge if one member loses capability, thus resulting in a portion of or entire
bridge collapse.

FATIGUE is a material reaction that describes the tendency of a material to break when subjected to frequent loading.

Learn free Civil Engineering by Civilustaad about What is Green Building?

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What is Green Building?

Green Building is a building practice that builds upon sustainable natural and environmental principals creating an improved indoor and outdoor environment.

Green building includes a broad array of stages in building throughout its life cycle from land- use, building design, and construction strategies that work to reduce unfavorable environmental consequences. Conventional buildings and construction practices characteristically neglect environmental consideration and often create twice the amount of carbon dioxide than the average car per year. The EPA estimates that the typical house is responsible for producing 22,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. According to the U.S. Department of Energy there are more than 76 million residential and nearly 5 million marketable buildings in the U.S. today accounting for one-third of the nation’s energy use and two-thirds of all the electricity? 

The turnover of green building includes:

Augmented energy efficiency

Enlarged water efficiency

Conservation of natural resources

Use of non-toxic materials

Improved indoor air quality

An improved indoor environment

Improved cost-effective performance

Learn free Civil Engineering by Civilustaad about Spillway design

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Spillway Design

Structures which are designed to safely liberate excess water during floods from a reservoir to the river downstream exclusive of opening the reservoir gates.

Each reservoir can stock up a specific quantity of water, if this limit is breached during flash floods or tremendous downpours it is necessary to be able to safely discharge this overflow without putting populations downstream in danger.

The design of the spillway is a fragile piece of engineering which ensures that a set amount of water can be discharged securely.

Learn free Civil Engineering by Civilustaad about Wastewater treatment plant

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Wastewater treatment plant

Wastewater treatment is directly related to the standards and/or expectations set for the effluent value. Wastewater treatment processes are intended to achieve improvements in the quality of the wastewater. The various treatment processes may reduce Suspended solids (physical particles that can choke rivers or channels as they settle under gravity)

 Biodegradable organics (e.g. BOD) which can provide as “food” for microorganisms in the receiving body. Microorganisms combine this matter with oxygen from the water to give way the energy they need to thrive and multiply; Sorry to say, this oxygen is too needed by fish and other organisms in the river. Heavy organic pollution can guide to “dead zones” where no fish can be bring into being; sudden releases of heavy organic loads can guide to dramatic “fishkills”.

Pathogenic bacteria and other disease causing organisms are most related where the receiving water is used for drinking, or where people would or else be in close up contact with it; and

Nutrients, including nitrates and phosphates. These nutrients can lead to elevated concentrations of unwanted algae, which can themselves become serious loads of biodegradable organic load.

Treatment processes might also neutralize or remove industrial wastes and toxic chemicals. This kind of treatment should perfectly take place at the industrial plant itself, prior to discharge of their effluent in municipal sewers or water courses.

Learn free civil engineering by civilustaad about WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION

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WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION

 

Worldwide, almost 1 billion people are deficient in clean drinking water. 2.4 billion People have no access to clean sanitation facilities; 1.2 billion lack some sanitation facilities at all. Each day, an average of 5,000 children die owing to water and sanitation connected diseases. In 2000, through the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), the global community dedicated to halving the proportion of people without access to clean water and basic sanitation by 2015. On the whole, the world is on way to meet the water MDG, but there are foremost gaps in many regions and countries, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa. On current trends, the world will miss the sanitation target by a overwhelming 1 billion people.

Meeting the MDG water and sanitation targets is more than a health and dignity matter. The proof is compelling that achieving the water and sanitation goals would trigger a major hurdle forward in human development:

                        

Water and sanitation are necessary to achieving all of the MDGs
Investment in water supply yields an average economic return of $4.4 to $1
Investment in sanitation yields an typical economic return of $9.1 to $1.

Human Development is further closely connected to access to water and sanitation than other development drivers UNDP has examined, including expenditure on health or education, and access to energy services.

                                   

The crisis in water and sanitation tremendously affects the poor. Availability of water is surely a concern for a number of countries. But the global water and sanitation crisis is largely rooted in poverty, power and inequality, not in physical accessibility. It is, first and foremost, a disaster of governance and thus governance reform must be a key pillar of any tactical approach to addressing the crisis.