PE Water Resources study guide
PE Water Resources · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The PE Civil: Water Resources and Environmental exam is one of NCEES's Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) examinations. NCEES describes the PE exam as testing for a minimum level of competency in a particular engineering discipline, and it is designed for engineers who have gained at least four years of post-college work experience in that discipline. The Water Resources and Environmental discipline is listed among the civil engineering PE options and draws on hydraulics and hydrology, water and wastewater engineering, water resources analysis and design, and project and construction management. The exam is computer-based; candidates register and schedule appointments through their MyNCEES accounts and select an NCEES-approved test center. The PE Water Resources study guide has 4 sections and about 1,263 words.
01Hydraulics and Hydrology
Manning's equation, Q = (1.486/n) A R^(2/3) S^(1/2) in US customary units (coefficient 1.0 in SI), is the workhorse for gravity pipe and open-channel problems. The hydraulic radius is R = A/P, and for a circular pipe flowing full R = D/4, not D.
340 words, about 2 min02Water and Wastewater Engineering
A conventional surface-water plant is a chain: coagulation (often alum or ferric salts) destabilizes particles, flocculation grows floc, sedimentation removes it by overflow rate (Q/A), filtration polishes, and disinfection provides the pathogen barrier. Disinfection is judged by CT = disinfectant concentration × contact time, adjusted by a baffling factor; detention time is t = V/Q.
270 words, about 1 min03Water Resources Analysis and Design
Flood and rainfall estimates are probabilistic. Return period T = 1/p, where p is annual exceedance probability.
299 words, about 1 min04Project and Construction Management
Projects are delivered by design-bid-build, design-build, or construction-manager-at-risk; each shifts risk and changes when the contractor enters. The schedule is a network: compute early start and finish forward, late start and finish backward, then total float = LS − ES = LF − EF.
354 words, about 2 min