Surface Water-Quality Modeling

National and international interest in finding rational and economical approaches to water-quality management is at an all-time high. Insightful application of mathematical models, attention to their underlying assumptions, and practical sampling and statistical tools are essential to maximize a successful approach to water-quality modeling. Chapra has organized this user-friendly text in a lecture format to engage students who want to assimilate information in manageable units. Comical examples and literary quotes interspersed throughout the text motivate readers to view the material in the proper context. Coverage includes the necessary issues of surface water modeling, such as reaction kinetics, mixed versus nonmixed systems, and a variety of possible contaminants and indicators; environments commonly encountered in water-quality modeling; model calibration, verification, and sensitivity analysis; and major water-quality-modeling problems. Most formulations and techniques are accompanied by an explanation of their origin and/or theoretical basis. Although the book points toward numerical, computer-oriented applications, strong use is made of analytical solutions. In addition, the text includes extensive worked examples that relate theory to applications and illustrate the mechanics and subtleties of the computations.

Titles of related interest also available from Waveland Press: Benjamin, Water Chemistry (ISBN 9781577666677); Charbeneau, Groundwater Hydraulics and Pollutant Transport (ISBN 9781577664796); Dingman, Physical Hydrology, Second Edition (ISBN 9781577665618); Fetter, Contaminant Hydrogeology, Second Edition (ISBN 9781577665830); and Gupta, Hydrology and Hydraulic Systems, Third Edition (ISBN 9781577664550).

Customer Reviews:

Surface Water Quality is "quality" from cover to cover

By A Customer - May 25, 2000

I found this book to be extremely useful. It covers the necessary issues of surface water modeling, such as reaction kinetics, mixed vs non-mixed systems, a variety of possible contaminants and indicators, as well as a variety of surface water body types. Each part of the book is a series of lectures containing theory as well as practical modeling methods. The text is clear and flows well, with occasional comical examples and literary quotes.

An excellent text for self-study

By Bernard VdS - February 26, 2001

This is a great book. In fact, it is the best book if like me, you don't have time to follow a teacher-led course. Stephen Chapra has authored/co-authored several engineering texts, and this one is just as well-written as the others. My need was for a text which had the right balance of theory and practical implementation details. Since I develop water-quality & hydrodynamics software, I also was concerned with numerical methods issues. This book met my needs. Chapra has a very enjoyable style. I like his sometimes 'anecdotal' style, whereby he gives you historical or background blurbs which help view things in their proper context.** One of the rare qualities of Chapra's books is to provide both the mathematical modeling theory, and the practical sampling and statistical tools to implement them with real data. This is so often overlooked by other authors.I look forward to his next book on numerical methods with Matlab & Excel.

OK, but hard to read

By Mark C - February 19, 2012

The text covers a lot of worthwhile material, but it is not easy to understand. The written sections and examples don't always pertain to the homework problems. The examples don't explain the solution step by step, but often skip key steps with phrases like "the following can be derived".