• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.332-345
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• 2019

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the treatability of contaminated groundwater with TPH and (or) $Cr^{6+}$. Laboratory scale tests were performed for oil/water separation, dissolved air flotation (DAF), coagulation and precipitation, and filtration with sand and activated carbon respectively. Two times of oil/water separation tests for total 40 minutes of separation or separating time shows 90.2 % of TPH removal rate. In case of DAF test for high TPH sample, the TPH removal rates were not varied significantly by the variation of microbubble size. However, tests for low TPH samples show that TPH removal rate increases as microbubbles are smaller. When coagulant was added to sample for DAF test, TPH removal rate was increased 12.3 %. SS removal rate by DAF was 97.9 % at $16-40{\mu}m$ and it was increased as the size of microbubble is reduced. Tests for coagulation and precipitation were performed to evaluate the removal of $Cr^{6+}$ in groundwater. The increase of $FeSO_4$ dosage increased $Cr^{6+}$ removal rate in the coagulation and precipitation process. As the amount of activated carbon in the filter media increased TPH removal rate in the filtration process. SS removal rate by the filtration was 96.7 % similar to the results of DAF process tests. The filtration process treats TPH and SS. Best design parameters are determined as the size of sand is $425-850{\mu}m$ and the ratio of activated carbon and sand is 50:50.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.73-91
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• 2001

compounds (VOCs) were selected for assessment of VOCs contamination in some urban runoff and groundwater samples in Seoul. They included 3 aromatic hydrocarbons, 13 alkyl benzenes, 1 ether, 26 halogenated alkanes, 10 halogenated alkenes, and 9 halogenated aromatics. The levels of VOCs in urban runoff and groundwater were measured for samples collected in March 2000, June 2000 and November 2000 in Seoul City. A total of 78 samples (44 run-off water, 27 groundwater, and 7 samples from 4 urban wastewater treatment plants in Seoul) were collected and analysed by GC-MS with purge and trap. After examination of the runoff, it was concluded that alkyl benzenes and aromatic hydrocarbons were organic compounds which were significantly impacted by traffic flows in Seoul. Of 62 VOCs, only 11 VOCs were not detected in runoff samples, while 14 VOCs were detected in 27 groundwater samples. The toluene content in the runoff was extremely variable from 0.1ppb to 29,310ppb, depending on the different sampling sites. The concentrations of xylene ranged between 0.07ppb and 2970ppb in the runoff. The concentrations ranged from 0.05ppb to 33.0ppb for benzene, 0.05ppb to 960ppb for ethylbenzene, 0.08ppb to 20ppb for trichloromethane (chloroform) , 0.03ppb to 4.30ppb for trichloroethylene(TCE) and 0.1ppb to 50ppb for 1,1,2-trichloroethane. From the preliminary study of groundwater from some wells in Seoul, the most frequently detected VOCs are djchlorornethane(methylene chloride), trichloromethane(chloroform) and toluene. Most of aromatic hydrocarbons, alkyl benzenes and other solvents generally lower than detection limits.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.54-61
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• 2008

Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) technology has been focused in contaminated groundwater remediation. It is necessary to select adequate reactive material according to characteristics of contaminant in groundwater. In this research, the reaction between reactive material and heavy metal contaminants was estimated through column test. Reactive material was slag, which has been produced in Gwangyang power plant, and heavy metal contaminants were cadmium, lead and copper. Column test was performed in the condition of 1) single and multi contaminated solution and 2) different initial concentration of cadmium. Retardation factor of cadmium is 3.94 in multi contamination. But that of copper is 40.3 in single and 25 in multi. The difference of retardation between cadmium and copper is due to affinity, resulted from the difference of electronegativity. In multi-contamination, copper effluent concentration was above initial copper concentration and at the same time lead effluent concentration was decreased. This phenomenon was considered that lead extract copper sorbed in slag and then lead was sorbed to the vacant sorption site instead. And as the initial concentration was increased, the retardation factor of cadmium became decreased.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.5 s.174
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• pp.535-545
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• 2005

Environmental survey from some abandoned metal mine areas was undertaken on to assess the risk of adverse health effects on human exposure to arsenic influenced by past Au-Ag mining activities. Elevated levels of As were found in tailings from the studied mine areas. This high concentration may have a impact on soils and waters around the tailing piles. In order to perform the human risk assessment, chemical analysis data of soils, rice grains and waters fur As have been used. The HQ values fer As via the rice grain and groundwater consumption were significantly higher compared with other exposure pathways in all metal mine areas. However, there were minimal soil and water dermal contact risks. The resulting Hl values of As from the Dongil, Okdong and Hwacheon mine areas were higher than 5.0, and their toxic risk due to drinking water and rice grain was strong in these mine areas. The cancer risk of being exposed to As by the rice grain route from the Dongil, Okdong and Hwacheon mine areas was $5.2\times10^{-4},\;6.0\times10^{-4}\;and\;8.1\times10^{-4}$, respectively. The As cancer risk via the exposure pathway of drinking water from these mine areas exceeded the acceptable risk of 1 in 10,000 fer regulatory purposes. Thus, the daily intakes of groundwater and rice grain by the local residents from the Dongil, Okdong and Hwacheon mine areas can pose a potential health threat if exposed by long-term arsenic exposure.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.1-11
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• 2004

To evaluate the applicability of dielectric constant measurement method on the geoenvironmental investigation of subsurface contaminated by landfill leachate, the analysis on dielectric characteristics of sand containing contaminated pore water by landfill leachate was performed. The separate real and imaginary parts of dielectric constant were investigated in the frequency range of 75kHz to 12MHz. The real part of dielectric constant increased at the lower frequency wherea the real part of dielectric constant decreased at the higher frequency as the concentration of leachate increased. These results can be explained by the frequency dependence of space charge polarization and orientation polarization. The imaginary part of dielectric constant on the contaminated sand with leachate increased with their concentration for whole frequency range. These results are caused by the increase of energy loss due to the enhancement of conduction in soil with leachate concentration. The results in this study indicate that the dielectric constant measurement method has potential in evaluating the contaminated soil and pore water by landfill leachate.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.729-744
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• 2023

The value of lithium has significantly increased due to the rising demand for electric cars and batteries. Lithium is primarily found in pegmatites, hydrothermally altered tuffaceous clays, and continental brines. Globally, groundwater-fed salt lakes and oil field brines are attracting attention as major sources of lithium in continental brines, accounting for about 70% of global lithium production. Recently, deep groundwater, especially geothermal water, is also studied for a potential source of lithium. Lithium concentrations in deep groundwater can increase through substantial water-rock reaction and mixing with brines. For the exploration of lithim in deep groundwater, it is important to understand its origin and behavior. Therefore, based on a nationwide preliminary study on the hydrogeochemical characteristics and evolution of thermal groundwater in South Korea, this study aims to investigate the distribution of lithium in the deep groundwater environment and understand the geochemical factors that affect its concentration. A total of 555 thermal groundwater samples were classified into five hydrochemical types showing distinct hydrogeochemical evolution. To investigate the enrichment mechanism, samples (n = 56) with lithium concentrations exceeding the 90th percentile (0.94 mg/L) were studied in detail. Lithium concentrations varied depending upon the type, with Na(Ca)-Cl type being the highest, followed by Ca(Na)-SO₄ type and low-pH Ca(Na)-HCO₃ type. In the Ca(Na)-Cl type, lithium enrichment is due to reverse cation exchange due to seawater intrusion. The enrichment of dissolved lithium in the Ca(Na)-SO₄ type groundwater occurring in Cretaceous volcanic sedimentary basins is related to the occurrence of hydrothermally altered clay minerals and volcanic activities, while enriched lithium in the low-pH Ca(Na)-HCO₃ type groundwater is due to enhanced weathering of basement rocks by ascending deep CO₂. This reconnaissance geochemical study provides valuable insights into hydrogeochemical evolution and economic lithium exploration in deep geologic environments.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.265-277
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• 2019

Changes in the amount, intensity, frequency, and type of precipitation, in conjunction with global warming and climate change, critically impact groundwater recharge and associated groundwater level fluctuations. Monthly gravity levels by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) are acquired to monitor total water storage changes at regional and global scales. However, there are inherent difficulties in quantitatively relating the GRACE observations to groundwater level data due to the difficulties in spatially representing groundwater levels. Here three local interpolation methods (kriging, inverse distance weighted, and natural neighbor) were implemented to estimate the areal distribution of groundwater recharge changes in South Korea during the 2002-2016 period. The interpolated monthly groundwater recharge changes are compared with the GRACE-derived groundwater storage changes. There is a weak decrease in the groundwater recharge changes over time in both the GRACE observations and groundwater measurements, with the rate of groundwater recharge change exhibiting mean and median values of -0.01 and -0.02 cm/month, respectively.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.35-48
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• 2021

In this study, the assessment of field applicability of in-situ remediation of nitrate-contaminated groundwater located in Yesan-gun was performed. Zero-valent iron/bio composite media injected PRB (Permeable Reactive Barrier) and monitoring well were installed in the contaminated groundwater site and monitored main remediation indicators during the PRB operation. Nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, Fe ion, TOC, and turbidity were analyzed and the diversity and population of microorganism in the PRB installed site were investigated for the verification of effect of injected PRB. In the study site where is an agricultural area, a river flows from west to east that forms a river boundary and the southern area has an impermeable sector. It was found that nitrate flows into the river, which is similar as groundwater flow. Simulation result for the fate of nitrate in groundwater showed steady state of nitrate arrived after 3~5 years passed. However, it is just to consider current conditions with no additional input of contaminant source, if additional input of contaminant source occurs contamination dispersion and time for steady state are expected to be increased. The monitoring results showed that Fe ion, TOC and turbidity in groundwater were not clearly changed in concentration after PRB installation, which indicates adaptability of the injected PRB for remediation of groundwater with no additional harmful effect to water quality. The concentration of nitrate maintained less than 5mg/L until 42 days after PRB installation and recovered its initial concentration after 84 days passed and showed termination of reactivity of injected zero-valent iron/bio composite media for removal nitrate. Nitrite and ammonia ions found after installation of PRB indicates reductive removal of nitrate. And the outstanding increase of microorganism diversity and population of Betaproteobacteria Class which includes denitrification microorganism explains biologically reductive removal of nitrate in injected PRB.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.149-159
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• 2011

Nuclear power utilities should establish a site-specific groundwater monitoring program for early detection of unplanned radioactive material's releases which can occur due to degradation of systems, structures and components of the nuclear power plants in order to keep the impact of the unplanned releases on the environment and the residents as low as reasonably achievable. For this end, groundwater flow on site should be evaluated based on characterization of the hydrogeology of a site of concern. This paper aims to provide data necessary for establishing groundwater monitoring program which is currently considered at Kori nuclear power plant 1 by characterizing groundwater flow system on the site based on the existing hydrogeological studies and related documents, and by modeling tritium transport. The results showed that the major groundwater flow direction was south-west and that most of groundwater entered a southern and eastern seas. Although the tritium plume also released into the sea, its rate was delayed by dewatering sump.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.719-729
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• 2008

In this study, the speciation, adsorption, and transport of uranium in groundwater environments were simulated using geochemical models. The retarded transport of uranium by adsortption was effectively simulated using 3-D groundwater flow and reactive transport models. The results showed that most uranium was adsorbed(up to 99.5%) in a neutral pH(5.5$pCO_2(10^{-3.6}atm)$ condition. Under the higher $pCO_2(10^{-2.5}atm)$ condition, however, the pH range where most uranium was absorbed was narrow from 6 to 7. Under very low $pCO_2(10^{-4.5}atm)$ condition, uranium was mostly absorbed in the relatively wide pH range between 5.5 and 8.5. In the model including anion complexes, the uranium adsorption decreased by fluoride complex below the pH of 6. The results of this study showed that uranium transport is strongly affected by hydrochemical conditions such as pH, $pCO_2$, and the kinds and concentrations of anions($Cl^-$, ${SO_4}^{2-}$, $F^-$). Therefore, geochemical models should be used as an important tool to predict the environmental impacts of uranium and other hazardous compounds in many site investigations.