Engineers are the world's lifeline to everything that defines our civilization, not unlike the Romans with their aqueducts, toilets, and sewer systems. Environmental engineering is a critical career field that helps keep our planet inhabitable and sustainable.

If you are considering embarking on a career dedicated to environmental engineering, there are many facets of your education that will come into play, and the more you know now, the better engineer you will be.

Your role as an environmental engineer will involve providing safe and plentiful water supplies, developing systems for reducing pollutants in air, water and hazardous wastes; anticipating the effects of contaminants' transport, and correcting improper disposal situations where hazardous materials are concerned.

As an environmental engineer, you will seek solutions to public health threats, improvements in and adherence to the law surrounding sanitation and construction, waste disposal, recycling, industrial hygiene, and environmental sustainability.

Environmental engineers are most concerned with the effects of technological advances on the environment. Hazardous-waste treatment is a significant issue needing regulation which these engineers can design and help implement through laboratory and legal avenues.

Worldwide issues in the environmental engineer's expertise include everything from farm runoff to ozone depletion, and all of the water sources in between. Today's engineers often further their education with specialized training in law and use legal paths to access routes to improvement. The study and practice of environmental engineering is as broad as the elements that make up the Earth.

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