Environmental engineers are in great demand for solving issues related
to water and air pollution and sometimes in areas concerned with hazardous
waste cleanup. Management of hazardous waste is the largest area of work
for environmental engineers. They would need to keep up-to-date with the
new policies and laws in environmental protection. They sketch regulations
to prevent the occurrence of mishaps and use their skills to prevent damage
to the environment, or to deal with the consequences of such damage. Mainly
applications of Environmental engineering include Environmental impact
assessment and mitigation for eg: afforestation of a nearby area to mitigate
the effects of deforestation in an area, water supply and treatment, wastewater
conveyance and treatment and air pollution control or quality management.
Ample job opportunities are available for environmental engineers and
their duties vary depending on the project and may include collecting
and analyzing data; performing quality control checks; evaluating and
devising solutions for environmental hazards etc. These professionals
are recruited in central and state pollution control boards and several
NGOs in every state who are up in arms against all forms of environmental
pollution. They can work with air pollution control, green house gases,
ozone depletion, side effects of pollution on human being, animals and
plants, water quality management, land conservation, soil conservation
and report on environmental impact of proposed construction projects.
They may be employed in :
Government agencies/ department - as health and safety officer; to
monitor and regulate waste discharges
Laboratories - to develop pollution control systems
Municipal agencies - to design and take care of the water supply
systems
Various industries/ companies - to plan their air or wastewater treatment
systems; to treat and dispose of hazardous chemicals
Universities/ colleges - to teach and conduct research on environmental
control
Manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies.
International firms working for environmental related projects
Environmental engineers can work as consultants, helping their clients
to comply with regulations and to clean up hazardous sites. Distilleries,
fertilizers plants, textile mills, water treatment industries, refineries,
mines, food processing industries etc. use the service of environmental
engineers. They also work with mining engineers to develop production
techniques; assist civil engineers in designing water supply and waste
disposal system and toil with chemical and nuclear engineers in waste
disposal.
