Environmental engineers work hard to turn back the clock to a time when we breathed cleaner air and drank cleaner water. They work closely with business leaders and government officials to institute new air pollution standards that reduce harmful emissions from factories without negatively impacting industrial output. Environmental engineers design complex treatment systems that remove contaminants from our air, water, and wastewater. They also examine the quality of our soil, assuring us that harmful toxins do not seep up through the ground we walk on. Environmental engineers work with agricultural businesses to assure consumers that pesticides and soil nutrients do not affect the quality of the food we eat. They also assure residents of new developments that homes have not been built on contaminated land.