Friday, June 24, 2011

Travails of an Environmental Engineer: Waste Water Treatment Is An Art, Not Science!

Travails of an Environmental Engineer: Waste Water Treatment Is An Art, Not Science!:



Apartmentadda.com has been kind enough to label me as a “Water Expert”.  I prefer to call myself an Environmental Engineer with a “Work In Progress” tag.

In the late 1970’s I had the good fortune to study a little bit of Environmental Engineering under the legendary Wesley Eckenfelder Jr., then Professor Emeritus at Vanderbilt University, and author of many of the early textbooks on Wastewater Treatment :  A man of great good humour and breezy insouciance and always great company in his customary colourful plaid sports coat at the communal coffee pot in the Department.

Many of the tables and graphs in his early textbooks were lacking in essential numbers, units, dimensions etc., in the columns, and along the X-Y coordinates, to which his lighthearted riposte was "Waste water Treatment is an Art, not Science”.

In my practice as a Consulting Engineer in later years, I have had the misfortune to scrutinize on several occasions design calculations and computations submitted by aspiring, overzealous environmental engineers, possibly with a Master’s degree or higher from Indian Universities : Calculations running into pages and pages, containing obscure equations and muddled arithmetic, finally ending up with totally absurd numbers for answers.  Verily these worthies have missed the wood for the trees.

Clearly, thirty years on, Eckenfelder’s maxim of Wastewater Treatment being an Art holds true to this day.


Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal                                                                          April 15, 2011

I think many of you would enjoy his articles on his favorite subject. I especially love his use of words, the way he keeps it simple and short and to the point. He continues to write on the subject, you can go to the link on top to read more of his articles.
 I am proud to say that this man is my husband.
Posted by Rama Ananth at 2:35 PM
Labels: ,

18 comments:

  1. My Inspired RealityJune 24, 2011 at 6:25 PM

    Wow, Rama, a wife and husband who blog:) Wish I could get hubby to write too. I am enjoying reading about your husband's bosses:):)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kavita SahariaJune 24, 2011 at 6:52 PM

    Impressive .Good to have two bloggers in the family .I am going to check the link right after posting this comment.Have a nice weekend Rama.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kavita SahariaJune 24, 2011 at 6:53 PM

    The header picture is so beautiful - a very nice family portrait.

    ReplyDelete
  4. SarmisthaJune 24, 2011 at 7:50 PM

    Its always a pleasure to have someone under the same roof who share your ideology and your passion with an equal heart.Dr.Ananth's reads are most certainly very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rama AnanthJune 24, 2011 at 8:06 PM

    Kavita thanks for liking the header picture. I keep changing them as I get bored after some time. Yes this is a nice picture.

    ReplyDelete
  6. SudhaJune 24, 2011 at 10:10 PM

    loved the post..i am looking forward to seeing his work on the green crusader

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cloud NineJune 25, 2011 at 12:49 AM

    Amazing duo, you two! Never knew your husband too blogs:) Nice post!

    ReplyDelete
  8. AmritJune 25, 2011 at 3:30 AM

    @Rama,

    So you recruited your husband to write blog now. Awesome. I really liked what he has to say about Waste Water Treatment. I think it is an art and science....being diplomatic. haha :)))

    Well I tell people 'Computing' is an art and science...if artistic people don't provide good layout/pictures/style, all calculations to display them on screen are useless. :)))

    ReplyDelete
  9. hamaarethoughts.comJune 25, 2011 at 4:57 AM

    love the header picture..God bless..
    This is my first time here..will keep in touch
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousJune 25, 2011 at 8:05 AM

    Nice picture Rama... i love the decor

    ReplyDelete
  11. RachnaJune 25, 2011 at 8:54 AM

    That's really wonderful, Rama. I liked what your husband wrote. My hubby also writes only very rarely. As you know, men like to write about their expertise or general stuff. They feel shy in writing about their feelings. And, btw, I showed your blog header pic to him, and he commented that you look really young to have grown up kids. So, I will pass on the compliment to you. I told him that I told her the exact same thing when I first came to know this fact :).

    ReplyDelete
  12. AshaJune 25, 2011 at 9:25 AM

    Short, crisp and loaded with a message. I'm a eco-warrior too and adore all those people are environment conscious.

    May your husband's tribe of (environment conscious people) increase.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Rama AnanthJune 25, 2011 at 9:27 AM

    Thanks everybody for your lovely comments.

    ReplyDelete
  14. bailiJune 25, 2011 at 11:24 AM

    hi dear rama,loved your new picture,it has so homely feeling,

    this is great that you have one who seems to see right where your eyes are seeing dear ,it is really beautiful feeling because such miracles do not happen often,

    have a lovely weekend god bless

    ReplyDelete
  15. EmreenJune 25, 2011 at 11:05 PM

    Love the banner .... Its lovely... !!
    Thanks a lot for dropping by and for the sweet comments...!!
    Have a great weekend...!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. padmajaJune 26, 2011 at 10:21 AM

    I could understand as a lay person what MR.Ananth, you are right.. he is amazing with his words!
    btw you didnt tell me when I can disturb you :-)

    ReplyDelete
  17. ChezJune 26, 2011 at 4:52 PM

    Final paragraph totally out of 'left field' Rama. Love it! A remarkable couple♥

    ReplyDelete
  18. Rama AnanthJune 26, 2011 at 10:07 PM

    Thanks to: baili Emreen,padmaja and Chez.
    Convey my thanks to your husband Rachna, and thank you, for your lovely comment.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)