Eng Hydrology and Hydrogeology

Overview

The course provides an introduction of the principles of surface and groundwater flow and its implications on the management of water as a natural resource. It develops the basic concepts necessary for understanding surface & groundwater behaviour and their mathematic expression. The course content includes: key elements of the hydrological cycle, hydrometry, urban hydrology & flooding, nature of groundwater bodies, key processes and parameters governing groundwater flow, groundwater monitoring and hydrogeological site characterisation.

Learning Objectives

On completion of the course, you should have:

• A broad recognition of the key concepts related to surface & groundwater flow and water management;
• An understanding of how surface & groundwater behaves in the wider environment and how it impacts both natural processes and human activity;
• An understanding of the legislative framework for protecting and improving the quality of water;
• An understanding of sampling/monitoring strategies for groundwater & surface water;
• An understanding of tools for assessing quality of "natural" waters;
• An understanding of key physical parameters which affect "natural" waters;
• An understanding of the principles of water chemistry and geochemistry and the chemical composition of water bodies;
• Begun to understand and identify characteristics of key hydrogeological environments;
• Begun to understand and apply/identify key concepts of groundwater management;
• Begun to identify principle remediation strategies for contaminated groundwater.

On completion of the course, you should be able to:

• Conceptualise surface & groundwater flow mechanisms;
• Identify the significance of surface and groundwater and their interaction on a catchment scale
• Transfer and apply basic principles underlying surface water flow and groundwater flow to real life examples
• Assess key aspects of groundwater quality and hydrogeolocial environments;
• Evaluate the results of basic hydraulic/hydrometric monitoring and hydraulic tests with regard to surface and groundwater flow dynamics and hydrogeological properties and environments.

Skills

On completion of the module, you should have a broad recognition of the key concepts related to surface water and groundwater flow and water management. The module is furthermore aimed at developing your practical skills in applying key concepts and analysis techniques to real life case study examples and to allow you to formulate the results of hydrological monitoring and hydrogeological investigations and assessments in the form of technical reports.

The module is aimed to enhance the following skills:

• Independent learning - transfer of theoretical concepts to problem-based applications and real life examples;
• Problem based and project-orientated group work;
• Technical report writing.

Assessment

None