Unit Outline

This unit explores the principles, technologies, and practices involved in the management of water supply and wastewater in urban environments. During this unit, students will gain knowledge and skills in the design of water supply and wastewater infrastructure in order to support them in critically assessing the performance and sustainability of water and wastewater systems and contribute to the development of resilient urban water infrastructure. Topics covered in this unit include water quality standards, water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, and management of by-products from water and wastewater treatment.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Apply engineering knowledge to solve practical problems related to water distribution and wastewater collection in urban settings.
2	Design the major components of water and wastewater treatment systems
3	Design water and wastewater infrastructure systems that meet performance/sustainability criteria and address the potential impacts of a changing climate over its lifespan.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	ENG337 Environmental Engineering

Alterations as a result of student feedback

This is a newly developed unit for 2026.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Project Scoping	Week 6	30 %	LO1, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Individual Process Design	Week 9	30 %	LO2
Assessment Task 3:	Treatment System Design	Week 13	40 %	LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Project Scoping

Task Description:

Students will analyse a real-world water or wastewater treatment challenge, assessing performance requirements and sustainability. This analysis will be supported by calculations related to water distribution hydraulics and wastewater collection as appropriate.

GenAI is permitted, but must be acknowledged.

If students fail to achieve the ILO1 portion of this assessment, a re-submission of that portion is permitted to achieve the ILO but will not provide additional marks.

Task Length:

up to 10 pages

Due Date:

Week 6

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Analyse the existing environmental context for projects.	LO3
2	Perform calculations related to water distribution hydraulics and wastewater collection (as appropriate) to support the development of a project scope.	LO1
3	Develop performance requirements for a water supply or wastewater treatment design project.	LO3

Assessment Task 2: Individual Process Design

Task Description:

Following on from the initial scoping study, students will develop a preliminary design for a selected component of the scoped water or wastewater treatment system. This includes process selection, sizing calculations, and justification based on relevant water quality standards

GenAI is permitted, but must be acknowledged.

If students fail to achieve ILO2 during this assessment, a resubmission will be permitted, with a cap of 50% on the maximum mark attainable from the assessment.

Task Length:

up to 10 A4 pages

Due Date:

Week 9

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Determine the key design parameters for a specific process in a water or wastewater treatment system.	LO2
2	Perform design calculations for a specific unit process in a water or wastewater treatment system.	LO2
3	Assess the performance of the designed solution with regards to identified performance criteria.	LO2

Assessment Task 3: Treatment System Design

Task Description:

Small groups of students will integrate their individual preliminary designs (and complete other process design as necessary) into a complete water or wastewater system design. Students will assess and report on the proposed performance, sustainability, and climate resilience over the system’s lifespan.

GenAI is permitted, but must be acknowledged

Task Length:

up to 20 A4 pages

Due Date:

Week 13

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Integrate individual treatment processes into a completed treatment system design	LO3
2	Evaluate the energy use and operational effectiveness of the treatment system in the context of applicable design criteria and relevant regulations.	LO3
3	Assess the climate resilience of treatment system, including adaptability to climate verifiability and risk management strategies.	LO3

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Specifically, to demonstrate attainment of the ILOs:

ILO1 - Achieve a result of 50% on the assessment criteria "Perform calculations related to water distribution hydraulics and wastewater collection (as appropriate) to support the development of a project scope" in the Proejct Scoping assessment.

ILO2 - Achieve a result of 45% or greater on the Individual Process Design assessment.

ILO3 - Achieve a result of 50% or greater on the Treatment System Design assessment.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.