• Advances in nano research
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.183-190
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• 2020

The objectives of this research were the reduction of membrane fouling and improvement of sludge properties by using synthesized H-ZSM-5 and NH₄-ZSM-5 zeolites. These two nano zeolites were synthesized and added to the membrane bioreactor (MBR). Three similar MBRs with the same operational condition were used in order to evaluate their effect on the mentioned matters. The evaluated parameters were trans-membrane pressure (TMP), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), particle size distribution (PSD), soluble microbial product (SMP), extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and, excitation-emission matrix (EEM). The MBR₀ was without any additional zeolite while 0.4 g/L of H-ZSM-5 and NH₄-ZSM-5 were added to MBR_HZSM-5 and MBR_NH4ZSM-5, respectively. The COD removal of the MBR₀, MBR_H-ZSM-5 and MBR_NH4-ZSM-5 were 87.5%, 93.3% and 94.6%, respectively. The TMP of the MBR_H-ZSM-5 was 45% less than MBR₀ whereas the reduction for MBR_NH4-ZSM-5 was 65.5%. Also results showed that both H-ZSM-5 and NH₄-ZSM-5 caused reduction in protein and polysaccharide related EPS but the NH₄-ZSM-5 had better performance toward the elimination of organic compounds.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.409-422
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to find the characteristics of organic matters based on the distribution and oxidation rates, as noted according to the spatial and temporal variations from 2008 to 2016. Generally speaking, the Han River system is separated into one lower course and two upper courses which are the Namhan River and Bukhan River. The seasonal factor is one of the most important causes of water quality changing in both of the upper courses as a result of a few pollution sources. The concentration of organic matter was measured as higher in the lower course into which great streams with point and non-point sources were identified. According to seasonal variations, however, the change of the organic matter in the lower course is comparatively slighter than that of organic matters in the upper courses. The oxidation rates related to the BOD were 15 %, 17 % and 26 % in the Bukhan River, Namhan River and the lower course, respectively. These results could be explained that more biodegradable organic matter were seen to have existed in the lower courses comparing to the activity in the upper course. The oxidation rates of the BOD were noted as relatively higher in the eutrophicated places with phytoplankton. Therefore the BOD is one of the good index models to find the characteristic of the eutrophicated water. On the other hand BOD would not be enough to estimate concentration of refractory organic matters in the Bukhan and Namhan river. Consequently, both of the TOC and BOD are necessary indices to understand the identified refractory and/or biodegradable characteristics of organic matter.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.20-31
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• 2021

In this study, an analysis of the characteristics of organic matter and nitrogenous oxygen demand (NOD) of 17 sewage effluent and wastewater treatments was conducted. High CODMn and carbonaceous biological oxygen demand (CBOD) concentrations were observed in the livestock treatment plants (LTP), wastewater treatment plants(WTP), and night soil treatment plants (NTP), but the highest NOD concentration and contribution rates of NOD to BOD5 were found in sewage treatment plants (STP). There was no significant difference in the CBOD/CODMn ratio for each of the six pollution source groups, but the LTPs, WTPs, and NTPs all showed relatively high CODMn concentrations in their effluent samples, indicating that they are facilities which discharge large amounts of refractory organic matter. The seasonal change of NOD in all facilities' effluent was found to be larger than the seasonal change of CBOD, and data results also revealed an elevation of NOD and NH3-N concentration from December to February, when the water temperature was low. There was no significant difference in NH3-N concentration in relation to pollution source group (p=0.08, one-way ANOVA), but the STP, which had a high NOD contribution rate to BOD5 of 48%, showed a high correlation between BOD5 and NOD (r2=0.95, p<0.0001). These results suggest that the effect of NOD on BOD5 is an important factor to be considered when analyzing STP effluent.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.215-224
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• 2019

Recent focus on wastewater treatment includes energy-saving and renewable energy generation for energy-independence of water infrastructures. Aeration and pumping in biological wastewater removal processes account for nearly 30-60% of the total electricity cost in real wastewater treatment plants. In this study, the performance and microbial characteristics were investigated in sequencing batch reactor under typical oxygen and oxygen limited condition. Under typical DO ($7.55{\pm}0.99mg/L$) and low DO ($0.23{\pm}0.08mg/L$) conditions, COD removal was stable over 91 % during SBR operation. Ammonia removal efficiency was reduced from 95.6 % to 89.2 % when DO concentration was dropped sharply. Phosphorus removal efficiency also reached 77% at oxygen-limited condition. The results indicated that removal efficiency both ammonia and phosphorus was influenced by DO condition. Microbial analysis revealed that Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes at phylum level was dominant in typical DO and low DO conditions and DO concentration did not much affect phylum distribution. Population decrease of genera of nitrifying bacteria(Dokdonella) and Dechloromonas spp. affect removal efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus at low DO condition.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.720-728
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• 2012

In general, nonpoint pollutant of a watershed is drained out in the form of storm water runoff during rainfall events. As the bulk of the nonpoint pollutant is in adsorbed form on particulate matters, in order to understand the behavior of nonpoint pollutant it is essential to grasp the characteristics of particulate matters in rainfall runoff. Though, previous studies for the relationship between the runoff characteristics of pollutants and the size distribution of particulate matters are very rare. In this study, a small non-urbanized area (basin area of 52.8 ha) with various landuse types including paddy, dry fields and forest was selected and investigated in detail for the runoff properties of each pollutant during several rainfall events. The correlation and effects between particulate matters and nonpoint pollutant were analyzed quantitatively. As a result, the significant first flush was observed on each event and it became clear that fine particulate matters ($80{\mu}m$ or less) has contributed in the runoff process of nutrients and heavy metals. Organic matters ($BOD_5$, TOC), nutrients (TN, TP) and several heavy metals (Al, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg and Zn) represented high correlations with SS (total), VSS, SS (d < $20{\mu}m$) and SS ($20{\mu}m$ $$\leq_-$$ d < $80{\mu}m$). On the other hand, $COD_{cr}$, Cd, Mn and Pb did not show clear correlations with the behavior of particulate matters. Therefore, we have to examine the introduction of nonpoint pollution mitigation facilities considering the facts that nonpoint pollutant runoff process has high correlation with the behavior of particulate matters and is changeable based on the target pollutants.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.187-201
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• 2019

This study examined the physicochemical water quality and evaluated the ecological health in 14 sites of Geum River (upstream, mid-stream, and downstream) using the fish community distribution and guilds and eight multi-variable matrices of FAI (Fish Assessment Index) during June 2008-May 2009. The analysis of the water quality variables showed no significant variation in the upstream and mid-stream but a sharp variation due to the accumulation of organic matter from the point where the treated water of Gap and Miho streams flew. The analysis of physicochemical water properties showed that BOD, COD, TN, TP, Cond, and Chl-a tended to increase while DO decreased to cause eutrophication and algae development from the downstream where Miho and Gap stream merged. The analysis of fish community showed that the species richness index and species diversity index increased in the mid-stream area but decreased in the downstream area, indicating the stable ecosystem in the upper stream and the relatively unstable ecosystem in the downstream. The analysis of the species distribution showed that the dominant species were Zacco platypus that accounted for 20.9% of all fish species and Zacco koreanus that accounted for 13.1%. The analysis of the fish tolerance and feeding guild characteristics showed that the sensitive species, the insectivore species, and the aquatic species were dominant in the mid-stream point. On the other hand, contaminants from the sewage water treatment plant of Miho stream had a profound effect in the downstream to show the dominance of tolerant species, omnivorous species, and lentic species. Therefore, it is necessary to improve water quality by reducing the load of urban pollutants and to pay attention to the conservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.11-21
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• 2014

An investigation of grain size, organic compounds and metal distribution in 23 sediment samples of the Geum-River basin (Korea) was conducted in two seasons of 2012 (dry season and rainy season). The samples of sediment were collected from the basin and investigated for concentrations of some metal and general indexes containing grain size. Concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, As, Cd, Hg, Al and Li have been determined by inductively coupled plasma spectrometer (ICP) and the sediments organic matter content was determined by the loss on ignition, and sediments were fractionated with three different nylon sieves. Correlation analysis was made for grain size, organic material and metal concentrations, and the Pearson correlation coefficients between their concentrations were determined. As a result, the higher metal concentrations were found in the period of the dry season than in another season. The metal concentrations showed high correlation with that of organic material (COD and TOC). Thereby, the high distribution of metal concentrations in sediment containing high organic compound is suggesting an interaction with organic matter.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.411-423
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• 2018

To investigate the distribution characteristics of grain size and organic matter of surface sediments from the Nakdong-Goryeong Mid-watershed, surface sediments were collected and analyzed. The samples were collected from six sited at four different times between May 2013 and May 2014. The were analyzed for grain size, water content, ignition loss, chemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon and total nitrogen. The surface sediments were mainly composed of medium sand (mean 44.7%) and coarse sand (mean 32.8%) and became coarser in May 2014. Fine sediments at the site NG-2 were poorly sorted and positively skewed, and occur in a tributary environment that is relatively low-energy compared with the other sites. The water content at the studied sites (15.3 ~ 34.9%) averaged 20.25%, and ignition loss (0.4 ~ 5.8%) and total nitrogen (274 ~ 2493 mg/kg) averaged 1.33% and, 696 mg/kg, respectively. These values indicated that the sediments were not seriously contaminated when compared with the sediment pollution evaluation standard of the National Institute of Environmental Research. The chemical oxygen demand (mean 0.17%) was at the non-polluted level compared with United States Environmental Protection Agency sediment quality standards. The total organic carbon (mean 0.18%) at all sites except site NG-2 (lowest effect level) was the no effect level of the Ontario sediment quality guidelines. The COD/IL (0.02 ~ 0.20) and C/N (0.73 ~ 6.76) were less than 1 and 10, respectively. Organic matter in the study area produced naturally from aquatic organisms. Results of principal component analysis showed that fine sediments (very fine sand and silt) were significantly affected by organic matters (ignition loss, chemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon and total nitrogen). In addition, the highest organic matters content in the study area occurred at the site with the finest sediments (NG-2).

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2004

Temporal changes of Chl-α, physical and chemical factors were investigated by diurnal observation at 2-hour interval at three fixed stations in the western Chinhae Bay from 12 Aug. to 13 Aug. 1999. Difference of dissolved oxygen between surface and bottom layer was maximum when the thermocline were strong. Organic distribution such as COD was affected by the growth of phytoplankton. Limitting factor was nitrogen, that is, inorganic nitrogen plays a significant role on regulating the algal growth. Surface distribution of dissolved inorganic nitrogen was very low compared to bottom layer by uptake of organisms. Maximum value of Chl-α at station C2 and C11 were observed from subsurface layer, ranges of which exceeded possibility concentration of red tide outbreak, 10 mg/㎥. On the other hand, that of C15 exist at surface layer. In this area, DIN and DIP concentrations increased by input sources such as rainfall and benthic flux before the bloom of phytoplankton. Accumulation of phytoplankton occurred at subsurface layer by the rapid uptake of DIN, especially nitrate ion, when strong thermocline existed as approach to the afternoon, which led to the increase of organics in water column and oxygen deficiency water mass at bottom layer until late at evening. Since then, DIN increases gradually as water temperature decrease to minimum. The quantitative understanding of nitrogen of fluxed to and from the various sources is necessary for environmental management.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.229-235
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• 2010

Efforts to evaluate water pollution using indicator microorganisms have been underway for decades, and driven by research on water purity control applications, water quality criteria are growing more and more strict. Furthermore, recent reports indicate that high concentrations of antibiotics are not absorbed, and are present in excrement from animals and humans dosed with unnecessarily high levels of antibiotics. This has emerged as very important issue from the standpoint of being an ecological and health hazard. In this study, water pollution was analyzed through physicochemical and microbiological means, and antibiotic resistance in indicator microorganisms was assessed. In physicochemical analysis, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)$_5$ and chemical oxygen demand (COD)$_{Mn}$ evaluation showed that pollution by organisms was highest at the G1 location with a high human population, and the DP location which has many livestock-containing households. The indicator organism levels at the G1 location were: Total Coliforms (1205 colony forming units (CFU)/100 ml), Fecal Coliforms (270 CFU/100 ml), Escherichia coli (253 CFU/100 ml) and Fecal Streptococci (210 CFU/100 ml), while for the DP location levels were: Total Coliforms (1480 CFU/100 ml), Fecal Coliforms (438 CFU/100 ml), E. coli (560 CFU/100 ml), and Fecal Streptococci (348 CFU/100 ml). Levels of fecal indicator microorganisms such as Fecal Coliforms, E. coli and Fecal Streptococci were high at all locations in the fall (the period after the rainy season), and the yearly distribution was similar between these organisms. If the number of livestock-containing households was high, almost all strains of E. coli (as distinct from the other indicator organisms) showed resistance to antibiotics, with the degree of resistance varying between areas. E. coli strains from the OY area in particular, which has a high population density, showed strong resistance to AM10 and Va30. While strong antibiotic resistance was observed overall at the DP and OY locations, no resistance was observed at the EB location.