• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.1395-1408
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• 2014

In this research, a River Recreation Index Model (RRIM) was developed to provide sufficient information on the water quality of rivers to the public in order to secure safety of publics. River Recreation Index (RRI) is an integrated water quality information for recreation activities in rivers and expressed as the point from 0 to 100. The proposed RRIM consisted of two sub models: Fecal Coliform Model (FCM) and Water Quality Index Model (WQIM). FCM predicted Fecal Coliform Grade (FCG) using a logistic regression and WQIM synthesized water quality parameters of, DO, pH, turbidity and chlorophyll a into Water Quality Index (WQI). FCG and WQI were integrated into RRI by the integrating algorithm. The proposed model was applied to upstream of Gangjeong Weir in Nakdong River, and compared with Real Time Water Quality Index (RTWQI) which is the existing water quality information system for recreation use. The results show that calculated RRI reflected change of integrated water quality parameters well. Especially chlorophyll a showed Pearson correlation coefficient -0.85 with RRI. Also, RRIM produced more conservative index than RTWQI because RRI was calculated considering uncertainty of water quality criteria. Further, RRI showed especially low values when fecal coliform was predicted as low grade.