Identifying Data 2019/20
Subject (*) Physico-chemistry and quality of water Code 632844203
Study programme
Mestrado Universitario en Enxeñaría da Auga (plan 2012)
Descriptors Cycle Period Year Type Credits
Official Master's Degree 1st four-month period
First Obligatory 6
Language
English
Teaching method Face-to-face
Prerequisites
Department Enxeñaría Civil
Coordinador
Delgado Martin, Jordi
E-mail
jorge.delgado@udc.es
Lecturers
Delgado Martin, Jordi
Vázquez González, Ana María
E-mail
jorge.delgado@udc.es
ana.maria.vazquez@udc.es
Web http://caminos.udc.es/info/asignaturas/201/masterindex.html
General description Esta materia ten como obxectivo presentar algúns conceptos básicos sobre a física e a química das augas naturais, así como algunhas ideas crave sobre a calidade da auga. Os conceptos elementais de química da auga combínanse con outros temas prácticos, como a mostraxe de auga natural, a análise de datos e a representación gráfica. Os contidos máis avanzados inclúen a descrición dos procesos que gobernan a variabilidade da composición química das augas naturais nos seus diferentes reservorios (precipitación, sistemas lóticos continentais e lénticos, augas subterráneas, auga de mar).

Study programme competencies
Code Study programme competences
A1 Knowledge, understanding and capacity to apply legislation related with water engineering during professional development. Capacity to analyse the working mechanism of the economy and public and private management of water
A2 Capacity to resolve basic physical problems of water engineering and theoretic and practical Knowledge of the chemistry, physics, mechanics and technologic properties of the water
A5 Knowledge of the basic concepts about ecology applied to water engineering. Capacity to act in the respectful way and enriching way about the environment contribution to the sustainable development. Capacity to analyse the ecological quality of water. Knowledge of the basic principles of the ecology and basic understanding of the working continental water systems
A16 Knowledge of the chemical basis of water which totally condition its behaviour in nature and its uses. Understanding and knowledge of the different water regulations for quality at local, national and European level
A19 Knowledge of advanced water treatment with different conclusions: depuration, re-use, purification, elimination of nutrients and regeneration treatments
A20 Use and management of measuring equipment in the field and in the laboratory. Knowledge of the methodology of control process and the determination of design parameters for water treatment processes
A21 Knowledge of water quality control models. Capacity to analyse and propose solutions to problems in water quality control
A25 Knowledge and understanding of water in different situations: the working of ecosystems, environmental factors with the purpose of to make an inventory of medium, applying the methodology to value the impact and its use in studies and evaluations of the environmental impact.
B1 To resolve problems effectively
B2 To apply critical thinking, logic and creativity
B3 To work individually with initiative
B4 To communicate effectively in work surroundings
B5 Continuous recycling of knowledge in a general perspective in a global situation of water engineering
B6 Understanding of the need to analyse history to understand the present
B7 Facility to integrate in multidiscipline teams
B8 Capacity to organize and plan
B9 Capacity for analysis, synthesis and structure of information and ideas
C1 To understand the importance of the enterprising culture and to know the means at the reach of the enterprising people
C2 To value knowledge critically, technology and available information to resolve problems that they will face
C3 To assume as a professional and citizen the importance of learning throughout life
C4 To value the importance of the investigation, innovation and technology development in the social –economic advance and cultural in society
C5 To posses and understand knowledge that gives a base or oportunity to be original in the development and for applications of ideas, often in the context of investigation
C6 The students must be able to apply the acquired knowledge and their capacity to resolve problems in new surrandings or not well known within wider contexts (or multidiscipline) related with the study area
C7 The students must be able to integrate knowledge and to affront the complexity to formulate judgements from information that, been incomplete or limited, include reflexions about social responsabilities and ethics related to the application of the knowledge and judments
C8 The students must be able to comunicate their conclusions, knowledge and the last reasons that support them, to spezialated publics and not spezialated in a clear and unambiguous way.
C9 The student must possess the learning ability with permits them to continues to study in a manner wich will be in a great measure self directed and individual

Learning aims
Learning outcomes Study programme competences
Learning the basic principles of water chemistry. AC1
AC2
AC5
AC16
AC19
AC20
AC21
AC25
BC1
BC4
BC5
BC6
BC9
CC1
CC2
CC3
CC4
CC5
CC6
CC7
CC8
CC9
Learning the basic principles of the analytical techniques aimed at quantifying the concentrations of water contaminants and their constituents. AC2
AC16
BC1
BC2
BC4
BC5
BC7
BC9
CC2
CC3
CC4
Ability to plan and execute sampling surveys for water chemistry AC1
AC2
AC20
AC21
AC25
BC1
BC2
BC3
BC5
BC7
BC8
BC9
CC4
Ability to establish relationships between physico-chemical data and the chemical state of a water body or the prescribed legal environmental quality objectives. AC1
AC25
BC2
BC5
BC7
CC2
CC3
CC4
Ability to perform statistical descriptions relative to the chemical quality of water. AC2
AC16
AC20
AC21
BC1
BC2
BC4
BC7
BC8
BC9
CC2
CC3
CC4
Ability to perform graphical representations of water chemistry AC2
AC25
BC1
BC2
BC3
BC8
BC9
CC2
CC3
CC4
Learning basic hydrochemical processes AC16
AC19
BC1
BC2
BC7
BC9
CC3
CC4
Learning the basic principles of hydrochemical modelling AC21
BC1
BC2
BC7
BC9
CC4

Contents
Topic Sub-topic
Basics of water chemistry Structure and properties of water
- Phase diagram of water
- Density, salinity, heat capacity, viscosity
- Oceanic stratification and thermohaline circulation
- Phase transformations of water
- Stereochemistry of the wáter molecule
Basic chemistry concepts
- Ponderal laws
- Mass conservation
- Mol and stoichiometry
- Concentration units
- Intensity and capacity properties
Colligative properties
- Adhesión, cohesion and capillarity
Chemical bonding and aqueous interactions
- Types of chemical bonding
- Aqueous interactions
- Emulsions and solutions
Chemical equilibrium and solubility
- Thermodynamic systems and laws
- Components, phases and species
- Collision theory and chemical reactions
- Mass action law and the equilibrium constant
- Le Chatelier's Principle
- Chemical kinetics and reaction rates
Sampling and monitoring Planning a water quality survey
Routine and special analyses
Water sampling: Tools and methodology
Sample pre-treatment and preservation
In situ versus laboratory parameter determination
Sampling water systems
- Ground water sampling and special equipment
- Precipitation
- Surface water (streams and rivers)
- Lakes and reservoir sampling
Basic analitical techniques and quality assessment of water analysis Experimental measurements
Basic statistics
- Statistical moments
- Distribution functions and non-parametric statistics
- Quantiles
- Outliers
Basic analytical chemistry:
- Precision
- Accuracy
- Error and bias
- Calibration and analytical limits
Quality assessment:
- Recommendations and rules-of-thumb
Quantitative and qualitative analyses
Selection of instrumental analytical techniques:
- Titrimetry
- Spectrometric methods
- Chromatographic methods
Graphical analyses of water quality data Basic graphical assessment
- Single water samples
- Multiple water samples
Advanced plotting and analysis techniques
- Correlations and false correlations
- Complex relationships
- Time- and flow-adjusted concentrations
- Time trend analyses
- Time series analyses
Analyses tools:
- Time trends
- PAST
Interpretation of the quality of natural waters (Part I) The water cycle and the global enegy budget
Precipitation
- Components of precipitation (dry, bulk, wet, hail, fog, etc.)
- Precipitation sampling
- Rain/forest/soil interactions
- Smog and photochemical smog
- Meteorological drivers and rain shadows
- Chemical composition of precipitation
- Sea spray
- Acid rain
- Global effects on precipitation
- Critical loads
- Local effects in precipitation
Interpretation of the quality of natural waters (Part II) Rivers and Streams
- Basins and watersheds
- River processes
- Hyporrheic and riparian zones
- Diel cycles
- Major constituent origin and processes
- Space and time dependencies in riverine systems
Interpretation of the quality of natural waters (Part III) Lakes and Reservoirs
- Fresh water environments and ecological zoning
- Lake types
- The Aral Sea disaster
- Special cases: Reservoirs, pit lakes and subglacial lakes
- Residence time
- Morphometrical studies: Methodology and descriptors
- Energy budgets in lakes and reservoirs
- Thermal classification of lakes and reservoirs
- Light, attenuation and transparency
- Oxygen
- The cycles of C, N and P and their coupled systems

Planning
Methodologies / tests Competencies Ordinary class hours Student’s personal work hours Total hours
Guest lecture / keynote speech A1 A2 A5 A16 A19 A21 A25 B5 30 30 60
Seminar A1 A2 A5 A16 A19 A20 A21 A25 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 30 30 60
 
Personalized attention 30 0 30
 
(*)The information in the planning table is for guidance only and does not take into account the heterogeneity of the students.

Methodologies
Methodologies Description
Guest lecture / keynote speech Regular lectures where the main theoretical contents of the subjects are regarded
Seminar Field trips and laboratory practice

Field trips will be organized so that the student can put into practice a part of the knowledge acquired in the subject
The students will go to the laboratory where they will put into practice the knowledge acquired to:
-Make the design of a field survey
-To carry out the necessary analysis to obtain the value of the different physical-chemical parameters of the water samples collected in the organized field campaigns

Prior to the implementation of the work in the laboratory, the student will perform a basic theoretical preparation for each proposed practice, which will consist of reading the script to know the objective of the practice, know what he will do and why, know perfectly the management of the equipment that will be used and perform the necessary calculations for its experimental development. Before starting the practical session, the student will be called to assess if he is ready to start the practice

Personalized attention
Methodologies
Seminar
Guest lecture / keynote speech
Description
Pernonalized attention to be provided for the seminars and tutorings

Assessment
Methodologies Competencies Description Qualification
Seminar A1 A2 A5 A16 A19 A20 A21 A25 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 The attendance to the semminars and the work being developed at the semminars will be considered for the final mark 50
Guest lecture / keynote speech A1 A2 A5 A16 A19 A21 A25 B5 The knowledge of the concepts developed at the magistral lectures will be assesed and considered for the final mark 50
 
Assessment comments
-Testing: short answer and exercises

The evaluation of the theoretical part of the units of the subject will be done through a test type control at the end of the semester. The development of the teaching material will lead to the resolution of practical problems that will be evaluated at the end of each topic through a control. The global value over the total subject will be 50%.

-Field departures:
Field trips will be organized so that the student can put into practice part of the knowledge acquired in the subject

-Laboratory practices
The students will go to the laboratory where they will put into practice the knowledge acquired to:
- Realize the design of a field survay
- To carry out the necessary analyzes to obtain the value of the different physical-chemical parameters of the water samples collected in the organized field survays

Prior to the implementation of the work in the laboratory, the student will perform a basic theoretical preparation for each proposed practice, which will consist of reading the script to know the objective of the practice, know what he will do and why, know perfectly the management of the equipment that will be used and perform the necessary calculations for its experimental development. Before starting the practical session, the student will be called to assess if he is ready to start the practice.

At the end of the course, students will present a work related to field work and laboratory work whose overall value of the subject will be 50%


Sources of information
Basic Werner Stumm and James J. Morgan (1996). Aquatic Chemistry: Chemical Equilibria and Rates in Natural Waters (3rd Ed.). Wiley Interscience
C.A.J. Appelo and D. Postma (2005). Geochemistry, Groundwater And Pollution (2nd Ed.). Balkema
John D. Hem (1985). Study And Interpretation of the Chemical Characteristics of Natural Water. U.S. Geological Survey
James I. Drever (1997). The Geochemistry of Natural Waters: Surface and Groundwater Environments (3rd Edition). Prentice Hall
Arthur Hounslow (1995). Water Quality Data: . Lewis Publishers

Complementary


Recommendations
Subjects that it is recommended to have taken before

Subjects that are recommended to be taken simultaneously

Subjects that continue the syllabus

Other comments


(*)The teaching guide is the document in which the URV publishes the information about all its courses. It is a public document and cannot be modified. Only in exceptional cases can it be revised by the competent agent or duly revised so that it is in line with current legislation.