Bachelor of Science in Water and Environmental Systems
Water and sanitation infrastructure is among the largest sustained public investments in Uganda, and the failure rate of installed rural water systems remains extraordinary, not because the engineering was wrong but because nobody engineered the whole system, including its operation, monitoring and ...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2032.
Roles
- Water engineer
- environmental engineer
- water and sanitation systems engineer
- water resources analyst
- environmental monitoring specialist
- treatment plant engineer
- catchment and water quality specialist
- technical founder
Employer types
- Water utilities and authorities
- environmental and sanitation firms
- government water and environment agencies
- development and humanitarian organisations
- engineering consultancies
- agricultural and industrial water users
- research institutes
- regulators
- and the graduate's own venture
- incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme targets strong graduate compensation in a sector of sustained public and donor investment. Progression routes include the School's masters programmes and doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Science in Water and Environmental Systems. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BWES 110 | Engineering Mathematics I Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BWES 111 | Programming and Computational Thinking Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| BWES 112 | Introduction to Water and Environmental Systems Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BWES 113 | Engineering Mechanics Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BWES 130 | Chemistry and Microbiology for Water Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BWES 131 | Engineering Mathematics II Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BWES 132 | Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| BWES 133 | Hydrology and Water Resources Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recessterm) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BWES 210 | Environmental Monitoring and Data Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BWES 211 | Water Quality and Analysis Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BWES 212 | Water Supply Engineering Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BWES 213 | Wastewater and Sanitation Engineering Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BWES 230 | Groundwater and Well Engineering Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BWES 231 | Hydraulic Design and Modelling Both | 2 | 1-0-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BWES 310 | Water and Wastewater Treatment Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BWES 311 | Catchment and Watershed Management Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BWES 312 | Environmental Impact and Pollution Control Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BWES 313 | Rural and Community Water Systems Both | 2 | 1-0-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BWES 330 | Instrumentation and Smart Monitoring Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BWES 331 | Engineering Economics and Project Management Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 401 | AI Fluency III: Domain Deployment, Governance and Assurance Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| BWES 410 | Climate Resilient Water Infrastructure Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BWES 411 | Intelligent Water Systems and Forecasting Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BWES 412 | Advanced Water and Environmental Engineering Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BWES 413 | Engineering Specialisation Elective I Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 402 | Capability Portfolio and Day One Preparation Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| BWES 430 | Water Systems Capstone: Design a Real Water System Performance | 9 | 0-2-16 |
| BWES 431 | Water Safety, Standards and Governance Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BWES 432 | Engineering Specialisation Elective II Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
| BWES 433 | Professional Practice and Engineering Leadership Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
Total credit units: 176
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Assessment follows Part E without variation. Across the programme the aggregate weighting is 35 per cent continuous assessment and built artefacts, 25 per cent authentic performance including practical examination and oral defence, 30 per cent external practitioner assessment in the final year, and not more than 40 per cent written examination in any single course. The capstone is client verified and the Day One Assessment contributes 5 per cent of the final year mark. Assessment principles. Assessment is authentic, criterion referenced and, for every capability claim above Level 2, verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer. There is no compensation between competencies: a student must master each one, and a marginal performance in one cannot be offset by strength in another. Feedback is returned quickly, within seven days of a block closing in the Block Sequence, so that it can inform the next unit. A student who does not yet meet the standard is given a further, structured attempt under Part E rather than being carried forward, which protects the value of the award while supporting progression. Reasonable adjustments for disability are made under Part D without altering the competency standard.
Work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4.
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Bachelor of Science in Water and Environmental Systems
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 22
Year 1 · this step is worth 22 CU
Cumulative
22
Programme total
176
22 CU of 176 CU completed by the end of this step (13%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and Craft CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems Thinking CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public Contribution CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Critical capabilities for this programme: Disciplinary Mastery · Technical Production and Craft · Problem Framing and Systems Thinking · Stewardship and Public Contribution. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Analyse the water cycle and a catchment as a system, verified by data and measurement.
- PLO 2Design water supply and sanitation infrastructure to standard and to safety.
- PLO 3Design and operate water and wastewater treatment against quality targets.
- PLO 4Instrument and monitor water and environmental systems and act on the data.
- PLO 5Model and simulate water and environmental systems before building them.
- PLO 6Engineer a rural or peri urban water system that keeps working, including its management.
- PLO 7Assess and manage environmental impact and pollution.
- PLO 8Apply intelligent monitoring and forecasting to water and environmental systems.
- PLO 9Cost, model and defend a water or environmental investment to a decision maker.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
Water and sanitation infrastructure is among the largest sustained public investments in Uganda, and the failure rate of installed rural water systems remains extraordinary, not because the engineering was wrong but because nobody engineered the whole system, including its operation, monitoring and management. Water and environmental systems engineering treats water as a system from catchment to tap to treatment and back to the environment, instrumented and managed. This programme builds the engineer who designs water and environmental systems that keep working, with fieldwork, laboratory and real monitoring from Year 1.
Admission requirements
Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education with two principal passes including Mathematics or a science; plus Uganda Certificate of Education with five passes including Mathematics, a science and English. Applicants sit a structured quantitative and problem framing task scored against Capabilities C2 and C7. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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