Schedule

ENVS 4800 | Water Quality & Health Risks | Spring 2026

Introduction

Week 1

Date Topic Readings & Assignments
Monday, January 12 Course Intro
Wednesday, January 14 Intro to Water Safety Planning

  • Read:

    • WHO. “Water safety planning: an overview and guide to success.” In: Water safety plan manual. 2023. pp. 8-12

    • WHO. “Introduction.” In: A Guide to Equitable Water Safety Planning. 2019. pp. 1-7.

Part 1: Understanding Drinking Water Systems

Week 2

Monday, January 19 No class - Martin Luther King Jr. day
  • None
Wednesday, January 21 John Snow and the Origins of Sanitary Engineering

Week 3

Monday, January 26 Water and Public Health
  • Read: Cutler and Miller. “The Role of Public Health Improvements in Health Advances: The Twentieth-Century United States.” 2005. Demography.
Wednesday, January 28 WSP Workday: Equity & Representation in Water Systems

  • Read:

    • WHO. “Module 1: Assembling the WSP team.” In: Water safety plan manual. 2023. pp. 20-28

    • WHO. “Assembling the WSP Team.” In: A Guide to Equitable Water Safety Planning. pp. 8-11.

Week 4

Monday, February 2 U.S. Water & Wastewater Regulations
  • Read: Siegel. “Chapter 3: An Endless Road to Nowhere.” 2019. In: Troubled Water.
Wednesday, February 4 Water System Governance

  • Read: McFarlane & Harris. “Small systems, big challenges: review of small drinking water system governance.” 2018. Environmental Reviews.

  • WSP Module 1 Draft due Sunday February 8 by midnight

Week 5

Monday, February 9 Benefits of Water Safety Planning
  • Read: Baum et al. “An examination of the potential added value of water safety plans to the United States national drinking water legislation.” 2015. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health.
Wednesday, February 11 WSP Workday: Water Treatment Processes
  • Read:

    • WHO. “Module 2: Describing the system.” In: Water safety plan manual. 2023. pp. 29-38

    • WHO. “Describing the System.” In: A Guide to Equitable Water Safety Planning. 2019. pp. 12-17.

Part 2: Understanding Drinking Water Risks

Week 6

Monday, February 16 Waterborne Disease Outbreaks

  • Read:

    • Last name starts with A – G: Piarroux et al. “Understanding the cholera epidemic, Haiti.” 2011. Emerging Infectious Diseases.

    • Last name starts with H – Z: MacKenzie et al. “A Massive Outbreak in Milwaukee of Cryptosporidium Infection Transmitted Through the Public Water Supply.” 1994. The New England Journal of Medicine.
Wednesday, February 18

Field Trip

Drinking Water Treatment Plant Tour

  • Due: Field trip waiver

  • WSP Module 2 Draft due Sunday February 22 by midnight

Week 7

Monday, February 23 Carcinogens
  • Read: Steingraber. “Chapter 9: water.” 2010. In: Living Downstream.
  • In class activity
Wednesday, February 25 Lead
  • Read: Hanna-Attisha et al. “Elevated Blood Lead Levels in Children Associated With the Flint Drinking Water Crisis: A Spatial Analysis of Risk and Public Health Response.” 2016. American Journal of Public Health.

Week 8

Monday, March 2 Lead

  • 1st half of class to bring water samples for analysis

  • 2nd half of class read: Adhikara et al. “Influence of point-of-use dispensers on lead level assessment in drinking water of a lead pipe-free campus.” 2022. npj Clean Water.

  • In-class activity - Develop Part 1 of EHS results report
Wednesday, March 4 Lead

  • 2nd half of class to bring water samples for analysis

  • 1st half of class read: Adhikara et al. “Influence of point-of-use dispensers on lead level assessment in drinking water of a lead pipe-free campus.” 2022. npj Clean Water.

  • In-class activity - Develop Part 2 of EHS results report

Week 9

Monday, March 9 WSP Workday - Hazards & Risks
  • Read:

    • WHO. “Module 3: Identifying hazards and hazardous events.” In: Water safety plan manual. 2023. pp. 39-46

    • WHO. “Module 4: Validating existing control measures and assessing risks.” In: Water safety plan manual. 2023. pp. 47-58 and 132-133

    • WHO. “Identifying Hazardous Events.” In: A Guide to Equitable Water Safety Planning. 2019. pp. 17-18.
Wednesday, March 11

PFAS

Guest lecture: Dr. Kelsey Schreiber, Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment
  • Read: TBD
  • Due: Blog post

Week 10

Monday, March 16 SPRING BREAK
  • None
Wednesday, March 18 SPRING BREAK
  • None

Week 11

Monday, March 23 Wastewater Impacts on Drinking Water
  • Read: Focazio et al. “A national reconnaissance for pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants in the United States — II) Untreated drinking water sources.” 2008. Science of the Total Environment.
Wednesday, March 25

Field Trip

Wastewater Treatment Plant Tour
  • Due: Field trip waiver

Week 12

Monday, March 30 Arsenic OR HABs (TBD)
  • Read: TBD
Wednesday, April 1 Fluoride

  • Read: Taylor et al. “Fluoride Exposure and Children’s IQ Scores: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” 2025. JAMA Pediatrics.

  • Due: WSP Module 3/4 draft

Part 3. Improving Water Quality

Week 13

Monday, April 6 WSP Workday - Improvements

  • Read:

    • WHO. “Module 5: Planning for improvement.” In: Water safety plan manual. 2023. pp. 59-66

    • WHO. “Improvement Planning.” In: A Guide to Equitable Water Safety Planning. 2019. pp. 19-23.
Wednesday, April 8 Technology, Innovation, & Investment

  • Read:

    • Sedlak. “How Development of America’s Water Infrastructure Has Lurched Through History.” 2019. Trend Magazine.

    • Water reuse (TBD)

Week 14

Monday, April 13 POU/POE Systems
  • Read: TBD
Wednesday, April 15 Pick a Question
  • Due: WSP Module 5 draft

Week 15

Monday, April 20 Lightning Talk Presentations
  • Due: Lightning Talk presentation slides
Wednesday, April 22 Lighting Talk Presentations

Week 16

Wednesday, April 29

4:30 - 7:00 p.m.

Final Exam Period

Lightning Talk Presentations
  • Due: Final written Water Safety Plan report