| Softening | (Environmental Engineering) The removal of divalent cations by precipitation or ion exchange. |
| Source reduction | (Environmental Engineering) The elimination or reduction of the waste at the source by modification of the actual process which produces the waste. |
| Species | (Environmental Engineering) In chemistry, an ion or molecule in solution. |
| Sterilization | (Environmental Engineering) The destruction or inactivation of all microorganisms. See Disinfection. |
| Stratosphere | (Environmental Engineering) The atmosphere from approximately 12 km to 70 km. The temperature of the atmosphere increases in this region.Strong acid |
| Substrate level phosphorylation | (Environmental Engineering) The synthesis of the energy storage compound adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from adenosine diphosphate (ADP) using organic substrates without molecular oxygen. |
| Surface water | (Environmental Engineering) Water which is contained in lakes, rivers, and oceans. |
| Suspended growth reactor | (Environmental Engineering) A reactor in which the microorganisms are suspended in the wastewater. Examples of suspended growth reactors are activated sludge reactors and anaerobic digesters. See attached growth reactor. |
| Synergism is the act of working together. | (Environmental Engineering) Two chemicals which are synergistic have a greater effect together than the sum of their individual effects. The effect can be either positive or negative. |
| System | (Environmental Engineering) An arbitrarily defined area or volume surrounded by a boundary and possessing specific inputs, outputs, and reactions. |