Environmental engineering development

Ever since people first recognized that their health and well-being are related to the quality of their environment, they have applied thoughtful principles to try to improve the quality of their environment. The ancient Harappan civilization used primitive sewers in some cities. The Romans built aqueducts to prevent drought and provide clean, healthy water for the city of Rome.Modern environmental engineering began in the mid-nineteenth

century. The introduction of drinking water treatment and sewage treatment in industrialized countries reduced water-borne diseases from leading causes of death to rarities. As societies grew, actions that were intended to achieve benefits for those societies had long-term impacts that reduced other environmental qualities. One example is the widespread application of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) to control agricultural pests in the 1940s. While the agricultural benefits were outstanding and crop yields increased dramatically, thus reducing world hunger substantially, and malaria was controlled better than it ever had been, numerous species were brought to the verge of extinction due to the impact of DDT on their reproductive cycles.