Appropriate Sewerage Systems for Korea

우리나라 적합 하수도시설 및 관리방안

Since the first sewage treatment plant was constructed in 1976, the sewerage systems of Korea have been rapidly expanded. As of the end of 1991, 22 sewage treatment plants with total capacity of 5.4 million tons/day are in operation which is equivalent of 3395 total daily sewage generation. Total extension of sewer 39.534 km in 1990 which is 55% of the target extension for the year 2001. However, the most sewage treatment plants employ activated sludge process which may not be suitable for medium and/or small scale plants. The poor existing sewer systems do not effectively collect and transport sewage to adversely affect the function of sewage treatment plant. To select the appropriate treatment system, the cities are classified into 3 categories such as large and medium size inland cities, small size cities and coastal cities. Considering the criteria suggested during this study, appropriate treatment processes were selected for each category. Conventional activated sludge process and step aeration process were found to be the most appropriate for big inland cities while biological nutrient removal processes should be considered for the cities discharge the effluent to lakes or reservoirs. RBC or Oxidation Ditch process might be appropriate for the medium size cities while several processes which do not require skilled operation and maintenance were suggested for the small cities. Ocean discharge after primary treatment can be considered for some east coast cities, Appropriate methodology to rehabilitate the existing sewers and strategy to convert combined sewer system to separate sewer system were proposed. This paper also include the appropriate management system for industrial wastewater, sludge and nightsoil.