Attention!: As of the date of preparation of the course guides for 2026-27 (June 2026), professor María Eugenia Suárez Ojeda is listed as responsible for the subject, but even though she prepared the course guide, she will not be the one teaching the course. This guide was jointly done with the rest of professors participanting in the subject. At the beginning of the course, the professor in charge of the subject will be announced.

1) Theoretical lectures. Students acquire the specific knowledge of the subject by attending face-to-face lectures and supplementing them with personal study of the topics explained. In addition, the case study method or problem-based learning will be applied to reinforce knowledge in theoretical classes.

2) Problem workshops. The knowledge worked on in the theoretical classes is worked through solving problems and/or practical cases. In these classes there must be a strong interaction between students and professors in order to complete and deepen the understanding of the knowledge worked on in the theoretical classes. You can work individually or in groups depending on the professor's criteria.

3) Tutoring: Tutorial sessions of one hour (up to a maximum of 3) will be scheduled to review the progress of the project and the problems that have arisen.

4) Elaboration of a final report: case studies will be developed and solved in groups by the students. A final report has to be delivered at the appropiatted dates set by professors.

5) The course has a Moodle classroom, within the UAB Virtual Campus platform, where you can find the contents and statements of the exercises, as well as complementary material and suggested activities.

6) Visit to a drinking water plant.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Continuous assessment:

• Two written midterm exams (65% of the course grade distributed equally). Midterm 1: topics 1 and 2. Midterm 2: topics 3, 4 and 5. These exams will consist of theory questions and resolution of practical problems. Minimum grade in each exam to calculate the average: 3.5 (out of 10).
• Submission of the final report (15% of the course grade) and oral presentation and defense of the case-study (10% of the course grade). It should be taken into account that these two activities are not recoverable; therefore, failing them with a grade below 4/10 implies not being able to pass the course.
• Attendance at the presentations and oral defenses of all case-studies of all the groups (5% of the course grade). A minimum attendance of 80% of the total time devoted to carrying out the presentations of all groups is required. It should be taken into account that this activity is not recoverable; therefore, failing it with a grade below 4/10 implies not being able to pass the course.
• Attendance at the visit to the drinking water treatment plant (individual) (5% of the course grade). A minimum attendance of 100% of the total time devoted to carrying out the industrial visit is required. The visit has no cost for the students. It should be taken into account that this activity is not recoverable; therefore, failing it with a grade below 4/10 implies not being able to pass the course. An alternative activity with the same weight in the final grade will be provided to students who cannot attend due to force majeure (section 6 of the Criteria and instructions for academic assessment in the School of Engineering). At the beginning of the course, the teaching staff will duly inform of the planned date to carry out the industrial visit and of the Academic field trips procedure of the School of Engineering for the 2026–27 academic year.

Resit examination:

Students who do not pass the course (5 out of 10) through continuous assessment will be able to sit a resit examination only for the midterms they have failed (grade below 5 out of 10). The final report, the oral presentation and defense, the attendance to presentations and to the visit to the drinking water treatment plant are not recoverable. The resit exam of each midterm will count with the same percentage as in continuous assessment. The grades of the passed midterm exams, the 10% of the group oral presentation and defense, the 15% of the group final report, the 5% of the attendance to the presentations of all groups and the 5% of the attendance to the visit to the drinking water treatment plant will be maintained. Students who have passed through continuous assessment cannot sit the resit examination to improve their grade.

Repeating students

Repeating students will have the same continuous assessment system.

Planned dates of the midterms: The calendar of the evaluation activities will be given on the first day of the course and will be made public through the Virtual Campus and on the website of the School of Engineering, in the exams section. In no case will evaluation activities be carried out on days and times different from those officially published on the School website or the course Virtual Campus.

To pass the course, a minimum final grade of 5 (out of 10) is required. In the case of not passing the course because one of the assessment activities does not reach the minimum required grade, the numerical grade in the academic record will be the lower value between 4.5 and the weighted average of the grades.

Consequences of irregularities committed by students: copying, plagiarism, use of AI: The carrying out of any irregularity in an evaluation act (academic fraud, plagiarism or improper use of AI, unless such use is expressly authorized in the course guide), which may lead to a significant variation of the grade, implies that this act will be graded with a 0. In the event that the course guide establishes that, in order to pass the course, it is an essential requirement to have obtained a minimum grade in this evaluation act or that several irregularities occur in evaluation acts of the same course, the final grade of this course is 0. Apart from this, a disciplinary process may be initiated against the student who incurs in any of these irregularities. These irregularities include, among others:

• total or partial copying of a report or any other assessment activity;
• allowing copying;
• submitting a group work not entirely carried out by the members of the group (applied to all members, not only to those who have not worked);
• unauthorized use of AI (e.g., Copilot, ChatGPT or equivalents) to solve exercises and/or any other assessable activity;
• submitting as one’s own materials prepared by a third party, even if they are translations or adaptations, and in general works with elements not original and exclusive to the student;
• having communication devices (such as mobile phones, smart glasses and watches, pens with camera, earphones, or equivalents) accessible during individual theoretical-practical evaluation tests (exams);
• talking with classmates during individual theoretical-practical evaluation tests (exams);
• copying or attempting to copy from other students during theoretical-practical evaluation tests (exams);
• using or attempting to use written materials related to the subject during the performance of theoretical-practical evaluation tests (exams), when these have not been explicitly allowed.

The numerical grade in the academic record will be the lower value between 3.0 and the weighted average of the grades in the case that the student has committed irregularities in an evaluation act (and therefore it will not be possible to pass by compensation). In future editions of this course, students who have committed irregularities in an evaluation act will not have any of the assessment activities validated.

Procedure for the review of grades

For each assessment activity, a place, date and time of review will be indicated in which the student will be able to review the activity with the professor. In this context, claims regarding the grade of the activity may be made, which will be assessed by the teaching staff responsible for the course. If the student does not attend this review, this activity will not be reviewed afterwards.

Grades

Honors distinctions. Granting an honors distinction is a decision of the teaching staff responsible for the course. The UAB regulations indicate that honors distinctions can only be awarded to students who have obtained a final grade equal to or higher than 9.00. Up to 5% of honors distinctions may be awarded of the total number of enrolled students.

A student will be considered not assessable (NA) if they have not taken part in a set of activities whose weight is equivalent to at least two-thirds of the total course grade.

This course does not provide for a single-assessment system.

Permitted use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed as an integral part of the development of the final report, provided that the final result reflects a significant contribution by the student in analysis and personal reflection. The student must clearly identify which parts have been generated with this technology, specify the tools used and include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the final outcome of the activity. Lack of transparency in the use of AI will be considered a lack of academic honesty and may entail a penalty in the grade of the activity, or more severe sanctions in serious cases.

Requests for rescheduling

There exists a protocol for “requests for rescheduling of assessment activities” according to the cases specified in the criteria and instructions for assessment in the School of Engineering.

Students with disabilities or special educational needs.

Students with disabilities or special educational needs may contact the UAB Equality and Diversity Service, which provides specific support for the development of a full and autonomous academic and social life at the university.

Use of language in assessment tests

In accordance with article 263.bis of the UAB academic regulations (article incorporated by agreement of the Governing Council of July 11, 2024), if more than one lecturer teaches in the same group and classes are taught in Catalan and Spanish, according to the teaching staff involved, the assessment tests will be delivered in Catalan. The teaching staff and the degree coordination may decide whether to offer translations into Spanish or English to students coming from outside territories where Catalan is not an official language, during the first year of their studies at the university. Students who meet the requirement stated above must request these translations in the first week of class and always prior to the date of the first assessment test. In all cases, the reference text is the original text.