Unit Synopsis
Advanced Water Engineering will introduce you to different components of the hydrologic cycle that are essential for designing complex water infrastructures. In this unit, you will discuss concepts of probability and uncertainty governing water resources projects. You will estimate design rainfall and losses, and peak flows and volumes for engineering design. You will also be introduced to the design of pipe networks for water supply and collection of wastewater and stormwater. You will also learn how to apply the concept of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD). In completing these tasks, you must use appropriate technical language in written communication and work in teams to solve problems.
Details
| Level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 9 |
| Credit Points | 12 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.25 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites for the unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 12-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Project (applied) | 30% |
| 2. Project (applied) | 30% |
| 3. In-class Test(s) | 40% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: UC's reflection and in class discussion
Students initially lacked an understanding of the project's complexity.
Students should have increased in-class support to help them better understand the project scope at the outset.
One-on-one tutorial sessions were conducted for some students throughout the term. Additionally, points of confusion regarding the project were discussed in other classes, primarily tutorials, to better explain the activities to students. This aspect will be considered carefully from the beginning of the next term.
Source: UC's reflection and in class discussion
Students demonstrated limited knowledge of Australian hydrological data and software skills.
Students should be provided with additional tutorial support to help improve their understanding of Australian data and gain more experience with the software.
Additional tutorial problems were discussed throughout the course. Also, the HEC-RAS software was explained in the second half of the tutorial session each week to help students better understand it and support their hands-on experience with the software. The students' concerns will be carefully considered, and the lectures and tutorial classes will be structured accordingly in the next term.
Source: SUTE
Students felt that the learning materials were less useful than anticipated.
Feedback highlights the need for improving the manageability of the course content within the allotted timeframe and the effectiveness of the learning materials. A review of the course design, including the pacing and integration of learning materials, is recommended to better align with student workload expectations.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Students feedback indicated a need for more targeted feedback from the lecturer across a range of topics covered in this unit.
To address this concern, it is recommended to increase the frequency of feedback particularly on clarifying complex concepts and supporting student engagement. Additionally, providing group feedback immediately after the assessments could prove to be more effective.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Students expected the unit requirements to be explained during lectures, with particular focus on assessments.
A decline in student response data in this category from previous terms indicates that students found the assessment expectations and/or learning objectives unclear. To address this, it is recommended to provide more detailed, criterion-specific rubrics and a dedicated assessment briefing session at the start of the term, aligning with the project-based learning modality.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Student feedback indicated that learning gains from the assessments were limited.
It is recommended that the assessment design be reviewed to enhance stronger alignment with learning outcomes and additional feedback opportunities integrated into the unit to better support student learning and skill development.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Formulate, plan, manage and complete projects individually or in teams considering stakeholder requirements and principles of sustainable development and communicate the outcomes professionally
- Design different components of urban water distribution, wastewater collection and stormwater collection systems
- Analyse a range of WSUD assets for a given urban setting
- Assess the hydrology of a catchment and estimate design floods.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Project (applied) | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Project (applied) | • | • | ||
| 3 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Communication | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | • | • | • | |
| 4 - Research | • | • | • | • |
| 5 - Self-management | • | |||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | • | • | • | |
| 7 - Leadership | • | |||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |