DENSITY OF WATER

The City of Bangalore faces a severe crunch in every aspect of infrastructure that citizens pray for ( and pay for) in the hope of better living conditions : As an environmental engineer, I may be excused if I put treatment of sewage and availability of water on top of the agenda.

With growing opportunities in this field, and more clients to serve, we as a Company are always looking to add to our resource pool of environmental engineers – no matter if they are not experienced, nor experts in the field : it is our job to train them and bring them up to speed. I am a trained trainer on the subject of Wastewater treatment for the KSPCB, from the days that DANIDA ( The Danish Govt. Aid Agency) set up the Environmental Training Institute ( ETI ) of the KSPCB over 15 years ago.  We look for candidates with a Bachelor’s Degree or a Master’s degree in Environmental engineering in the belief that these boys will already possess some knowledge of  fundamentals of environmental engineering, wastewater treatment etc.,  so we would not have to start with Do-Re-Mi.

One such candidate with an impressive Resume came calling for a job.  This boy had a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering ( First Class), followed up with an M.Tech Degree in Environmental Engineering ( 82.5 % GPA).  The degrees were from a well respected engineering Institution, one of the oldest in the State of Karnataka  - The BDT College of Engineering in Davangere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_B.D.T_College_of_Engineering

Ganesh ( that was the name of the boy) walked into my office with a shy smile and a respectful mien, and I was overjoyed to see a candidate with such huge potential and promise.

Alas ! what was to follow was utter disaster.  And what I am about to narrate is the gospel truth.

After the usual pleasantries, I got down to the business end of the interview and questioning.  The shy smile remained, but Ganesh was Sphinx like and silent to all the questions I posed him on the subject of wastewater treatment.

-       pH Correction ? Acid ? What is H₂SO₄ ?  - No response, only the vague smile

-       Aeration tank ? Microrganisms ? Membrane diffusers ? – Silence once more

-       Settling tank ? Sludge Recirculation ? – The smile disappeared to be replaced with a slight look of concern on the poor boy’s face

-       Air ? Percentage of Oxygen ? delivery of Oxygen to Micorbes ? – The boy took out his handkerchief to wipe off beads of perspiration beginning to appear on that innocent face

Not wanting to prolong his agony any further, and to put him at ease, I asked him what I thought he would be able to readily answer and redeem a little bit of the pride he must have felt when he collected his M.Tech Degree in Environmental Engineering from BDT College of Engineering.

-       What is the Density of Water ? – Breaking his silence at last, in a pitiful voice the poor boy mumbled “ I do not know Sir. We were not taught these things.”

I don’t know who shares the greater part of blame. The Student or the Education System ? But I truly lament the state of our education system, even in the so called renowned, established temples of higher learning in Karnataka.  I am sure the situation is no different in other parts of our great country.

Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal                                                                                    March 08, 2013