• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.19-27
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• 2021

Hydroponic farming is a method to grow a plant without soil. Plants can be grown on water or hydroponic growing media, and they are fed with mineral nutrient solutions, which are fertilizers dissolved into water. Hydroponic farming has the advantage of increasing plant productivity over conventional greenhouse farming. Previous studies of hydroponic nutrient wastewater from acyclic hydroponic farms pointed out that hydroponic nutrient wastewater contained residual nutrients, and they were drained to a nearby river bank which causes several environmental issues. Also, previous studies suggest that excessive use of the nutrient solution and disposal of used hydroponic growing media and crop wastes in hydroponic farms are major problems to hydroponic farming. This study was conducted to determine the impact of hydroponic nutrient wastewater, used hydroponic growing media, and crop wastes from acyclic hydroponic farms on the surrounding environment by analyzing water quality and soil analysis of the above three factors. Three soil cultivation farms and several hydroponic farms in the Gangwon C region were selected for this study. Samples of water and soils were collected from both inside and outside of each farm. Also, a sample of soil and leachate from crop waste piles stacked near the farm was collected for analysis. Hydroponic nutrient wastewater from acyclic hydroponic farm contained an average of 402 mg/L of total nitrogen (TN) concentration, and 77.4 mg/L of total phosphate (TP) concentration. The result of TP in hydroponic nutrient wastewater exceeds the living environmental standard of the river in enforcement decree of the framework act on environmental policy by 993.7 times. Also, it exceeds the standard of industrial wastewater discharge standards under the water environment conservation act by 6~19 times in TN, and 2~27 times in TP. Leachate from crop waste piles contained 11,828 times higher COD and 395~2662 times higher TP than the standard set by the living environmental standard of the river in enforcement decree of the framework act on environmental policy and exceeds 778 times higher TN and 5 times higher TP than the standard of industrial wastewater discharge standards under the water environment conservation act. For more precise studies of the impact of hydroponic nutrient wastewater, used hydroponic growing media, and crop wastes from acyclic hydroponic farms on the surrounding environment, additional information regarding a number of hydroponic farms, arable area(ha), hydroponic farming area, seasonal, weather, climate factor around the river, and the property of the area and farm is needed. Analysis of these factors and additional water and soil samples are needed for future studies.