Editor’s Note

For this issue we have an interesting and diverse lineup of papers covering matters germane to water supply, water treatment, water distribution, wastewater treatment, stormwater management, environmental processes, and even solid waste. Karl Linden has written a thought-provoking editorial on the state of water treatment in North America versus other continents. I hope you enjoy it. Speaking of editorials, if you are interested in preparing one, please let me know. They’re a good means of expressing a position or getting the profession thinking about an issue that needs attention.

Each month I am asked to decide the order in which the papers for an issue should appear. This month they appear in the order mentioned above. I have no bias toward one area of inquiry or the other, but this order seemed logical, at least to me and for this issue. At a minimum, I have tried to keep papers on like topics together. Since Karl’s editorial was about potable water, it made sense to start the sequence with those papers pertaining to water supply. I just followed the flow of water from there. (Admittedly the paper on plastics processing doesn’t quite fit into my logic.) Next month, I might have a completely different strategy. If you haven’t noticed, I am looking for a consistent approach to use for future journal issues, something that will make sense to the Journal’s readers. I welcome your thoughts.

We are looking to publish good papers on timely topics. Let me know if you think there is a topic that has been neglected or should get some special attention. Nominations for special topics are welcome. Volunteers who would like to coordinate such are especially welcome. The Associate Editors of the Journal are overworked and underpaid (i.e., they are paid nothing). If there is someone out there who has a good idea for a timely topic and would like to take some responsibility and get the corequisite recognition for coordinating the publication of that material, I am all ears!

I have had a chance to review the abstracts of papers being published in other ASCE journals this month and can report that there are quite a few that will be of interest to the readers of the Journal of Environmental Engineering. The Journal of Hydraulic Engineering has several papers dealing with mixing and contaminant fate and transport in the water environment. The Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering has papers dealing with flow measurement, hydrologic issues, and groundwater flow and contaminant transport. The Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering has a paper on leachate recirculation in landfills. I encourage you to take a few minutes to browse the ASCE journals this month. You can view the contents of any journal and the abstracts of each paper free at ⟨http://www.pubs.asce.org/journals/jrns.html⟩