| Virus | (Environmental Engineering) A submicroscopic genetic constituent which can alternate between two distinct phases. As a virus particle, or virion, it is DNA or RNA enveloped in an organic capsule. As an intracellular virus, it is viral DNA or RNA inserted into the host organisms DNA or RNA. |
| Volatile solids | (Environmental Engineering) (VS) is the amount of matter which volatilizes (or burns) when a water sample is heated to 550EC.Volatile suspended solids |
| Waste minimization | (Environmental Engineering) The elimination or reduction of a waste prior to its generation. This is accomplished by process changes rather than waste treatment methods. |
| Wastewater | (Environmental Engineering) Consumed or used water from a municipality or industry that contains dissolved and/or suspended matter. |
| Weak acid | (Environmental Engineering) An acid that does not ionize completely under the conditions of interest. Examples include acetic acid, carbonic acid, and hypochlorous acid. See strong acid. |
| Wetland | (Environmental Engineering) Semi-aquatic land, that is land that is either inundated or saturated by water for varying periods of time during each year, and that supports aquatic vegetation which is specifically adapted for saturated soil conditions. |
| Adaptive maintenance - | (Software Engineering) activity associate with changing an application to make it conform to changes in its external environment |
| Coupling - | (Software Engineering) an informal measure of the degree to which a software component is connected to other components, to data, and to the external environment |
| Portability - | (Software Engineering) the ability to transport software from one target environment to another |
| ASR - Alkali-Silica Reactivity | (Concrete Engineering) The reaction of aggregates, which contain some form of silica or carbonates with sodium oxides or potassium oxides in cement, particularly in warm, moist climates or environments, causing expansion, cracking or popouts in concrete. |