Hydrology is the study of the occurrence, distribution, and movement of water on, in, and above the earth. As such, it is an earth science. The cycle of movement of water between terrasphere (land), oceanosphere (ocean), and atmosphere (air) is termed the hydrologic cycle. There are two broad sub-disciplines within the science of hydrology. The first is surface-water hydrology and sub-surface hydrology. Insofar as knowledge of water and flows are required to understand pollutant transport. Environmental engineers are also involved in pollution reduction, green engineering and industrial ecology.
 
Industrial ecology is the shifting of industrial process from open loop systems, in which resource and capital investments move through the system to become waste, to a closed loop system where wastes become inputs for new processes. Industrial ecology was proposed in 1989 in Scientific American by Robert Frosch. Frosch vision was "why would not our industrial system behave like an ecosystem, where the wastes of a species may be resource to another species? Why would not the outputs of an industry be the inputs of another, thus reducing use of raw materials, pollution, and saving on waste treatment?". Environmental engineering is the modern term for Sanitary engineering. Some other terms in use are public health engineering and environmental health engineering.
 
Hydraulic Engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water. This area of engineering is, of course, intimately related to the design of bridges, dams, channels, canals, and levees, and to both Sanitary and Environmental engineering. It is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water. This area of engineering is, of course, intimately related to the design of bridges, dams, channels, canals, and levees, and to both Sanitary and Environmental engineering.
 
The Hydraulics and Hydrology Department is the second largest department in the Faculty of Civil Engineering. 32 Academic Staff and 12 Technical Support Staff assists students during their study in UTM. The department offers a study related to design of the system of surface and earth water resources, dam, culvert and drainage system, harbour development and various hydraulics structures.
 
The subjects area offered to undergraduates are :