Sanitary concerns.....

[Dleg]

One thing that I think fails to get mentioned in here is the issue of holdover topics from the days when "environmental" engineering was called "sanitary" engineering. I think one or two questions showed up on my exam that I never would have expected, but was able to answer because I had "Environmental Engineering" by Salvato, et. al., with me. It's an expensive book, but it covers all those odd things that you would not run into unless you happened to work for a public health or environmental health-type agency, in addition to the more central "environmental" engineering topics.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.... I am certain I would have passed anyway if I had not been able to answer that question (s), but you never know....

Plus, I use that book frequently at work, as does the other, very experienced environmental engineer I work with.

 

[jritter58]

I am slightly concerned about the oddball questions. My main sanitary concern is that I can't hardly get myself to look at this **** anymore and we have a month to go! (assuming I am here to take it!)

 

[Baconbit]

I actually do have the Environmental Engineering by Salvato, but honestly I haven't looked at it at all. I am spending my time still going through the Env Eng Ref Manual by Lindeburg and trying to make sure I "know" it and know how to find stuff in it...not to mention that I'm still working through the chapters and the practice problems. I am wondering how helpful any of the other resources will be that I have accumulated (free EPA stuff, Metcalf & Eddy Wastewater Engineering, Salvato, etc...) given that I haven't looked at any of it yet...suggestions? So much of the advice on here is about being really familiar with your references.

 

[GTjoy]

I actually do have the Environmental Engineering by Salvato, but honestly I haven't looked at it at all. I am spending my time still going through the Env Eng Ref Manual by Lindeburg and trying to make sure I "know" it and know how to find stuff in it...not to mention that I'm still working through the chapters and the practice problems. I am wondering how helpful any of the other resources will be that I have accumulated (free EPA stuff, Metcalf & Eddy Wastewater Engineering, Salvato, etc...) given that I haven't looked at any of it yet...suggestions? So much of the advice on here is about being really familiar with your references.

I am still in study mode too, you're not alone! I also don't have the Salvato book - Or the LaGrega Haz Waste book and Environmental Law Handbook which everyone says are both excellent. Fortunately, I did not sell off ALL my textbooks from school (but so far the only seemingly good one is an air pollution book) and I also borrowed a few books from coworkers, including an old version of Metcalf and Eddy.

As I've been studying from ENVRM and its companion practice problems- I feel like they're skimpy on Haz Waste, slightly skimpy on Air, and really not all that great for Groundwater and Hydrology either. Don't waste your time reading those ventilation chapters, maybe skim only the first and last chapter of that area.

My suggestion is that for whatever resources you have, don't spend too much time studying them in depth unless you have the time. Do take a little a bit of time to flip through the additional books to see if they have useful example problems, charts, or specific topics which are perhaps noted in the NCEES exam breakdown but are not covered well in ENVRM. Then, just tab those sections in the other books. Also I'd say maybe tab the index for each of your other references too, just to make for easy access. I know I won't have time to be intimately familiar with my other references, but I want to know generally what is in them. For example, in my RCRA orientation manual, I've flagged the HW classification numbers.

 

[klk]

As I've been studying from ENVRM and its companion practice problems- I feel like they're skimpy on Haz Waste, slightly skimpy on Air, and really not all that great for Groundwater and Hydrology either. Don't waste your time reading those ventilation chapters, maybe skim only the first and last chapter of that area.

I wholeheartedly agree - ENVRM is very skimpy on haz & solid waste, air and haz regulations. Its good to be familiar with ENVRM, but I found it wasn't the only reference I used. Any references you can bring to cover the areas that ENVRM doesn't cover as well, the better off you'll be.

My suggestion is that for whatever resources you have, don't spend too much time studying them in depth unless you have the time. Do take a little a bit of time to flip through the additional books to see if they have useful example problems, charts, or specific topics which are perhaps noted in the NCEES exam breakdown but are not covered well in ENVRM. Then, just tab those sections in the other books. Also I'd say maybe tab the index for each of your other references too, just to make for easy access. I know I won't have time to be intimately familiar with my other references, but I want to know generally what is in them. For example, in my RCRA orientation manual, I've flagged the HW classification numbers.

That is also great advice. There were several references I used on exam day that I hadn't even opened prior to the exam. If you can be somewhat familiar with what info your books contain, that's even better. Another thing that might help is to photocopy the index from all of your references, including ENVRM, and place them in a 3-ring notebook. That way, you don't have to handle a bunch of books to do an index search. the other advantage is that when you are looking something up in the index, the index might show that the topic you're looking for is in two places. it was frustrating to go back and forth between the index and where I was looking up the info in the book.

 

[Dleg]

Salvato is great for several classes of oddball questions you will run into on the test, and some familiarity is important. However, the subject I was talking about - strange, holdover public health / sanitary engineering subjects, well let's just say that I didn't familiarize myself with those portions of the book, but was able to find an answer or two using the index.

As far as other books go, it is probably worth your while to own some of the ones mentioned above, even if you have to spend your own money to buy it new (gasp!). As noted, ENVRM does NOT cover hazwaste, hydrogeology, solid waste, and the more practical aspects of every field very well (e.g., sampling and analysis procedures.)

But dollar for dollar, I would say Salvato was the best purchase I made, both for the test, and for my job.