The Environmental Engineering Laboratory facilities consist of three rooms in CEER:

• The Analytical Laboratory (Room 311)
• The Chemical Experiments Laboratory
• The Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology Laboratory

These laboratories are well equipped for conducting water chemistry and environmental microbiology/biotechnology experiments and they are managed by a full-time technician. In addition to standard laboratory equipment such as pH meters, spectrophotometers, turbidimeters, dissolved oxygen meters, and ovens, there are several key analytical instruments used by students and faculty.  The equipment inventory in the Analytical Laboratory includes:

• one Hewlett Packard gas chromatograph with mass spectrophometer detector (GC/MS) with ion and electron ionization capabilities
• 2 Hewlett Packard 6890 gas chromatographs with flame ionization, thermal conductivity, and electron capture detectors
• one Dionex DX-600 IC/HPLC with electrochemical and photodiode array detectors
• one Waters HPLC with mass spectrophometer detector
• Pectronic Genesys 5 variable wavelength scanning UV/Vis spectrophotometer.

Both the Chemical Experiments Laboratory and The Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology Laboratory are used for teaching and research.  Civil and Environmental Engineering students take Environmental Engineering Laboratory (CEE 3921) during the Fall semester of their junior year.  The laboratory course is a co-requisite for the Water and Wastewater Treatment course (CEE 3321) and students conduct variety of experiments commonly used in the Environmental Engineering field. 

The laboratory sections are limited to 16 students and each section is divided into four benches.  This arrangements ensures that each student receives individual attention and hands-on experience conducting the experiments.

There are variety of opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to become involved in research activities.  The Chemical Experiments Laboratory is:

• engaged in determining the presence and fate of various pharmaceutically active compunds (PACs) in surface water, animal manure, municipal wastewater treatment plants, and mushroom agriculture. 
• involved in the treatment of PACs using ultrasound technology and adsorption processes. 

The Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology Laboratory conducts research in the applied microbiology area as it relates to environmental engineering. Specific interests are:

• public health
• microbiology
• biological processes. 

Recently, the laboratory established a strong infrastructure to incorporate several molecular biology tools; such as, PCR, FAME, and gel electrophoresis into its research projects, particularly in the microbial source tracking and the microbial community structure and function analysis areas.