• Journal of Appropriate Technology
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.136-143
• /
• 2021

Pacific island countries, including Kiribati, are suffering from a shortage of essential resources as well as a reduction in their living space due to sea level rise and coastal erosion from climate change, groundwater pollution and vegetation changes. Global activities to solve these problems are being progressed by the UN's efforts to implement SDGs. Pacific island countries can adapt to climate change by using abundant marine resources. In other words, seawater plants can assist in achieving SDGs #2, #6 and #7 based on SDGs #14 in these Pacific island countries. Under the auspice of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO) established the Sustainable Seawater Utilization Academy (SSUA) in 2016, and its 30 graduates formed the SSUA Kiribati Association in 2017. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) of the Republic of Korea awarded ODA fund to the Association. By taking advantage of seawater resource and related plants, it was able to provide drinking water and vegetables to the local community from 2018 to 2020. Among the various fields of education and practice provided by SSUA, the Association hope to realize hydroponic cultivation and seawater desalination as a self-support project through a pilot project. To this end, more than 140 households are benefiting from 3-stage hydroponics, and a seawater desalination system in connection with solar power generation was installed for operation. The Association grows and supplies vegetable seedlings from the provided seedling cultivation equipment, and is preparing to convert to self-support business from next year. The satisfaction survey shows that Tarawa residents have a high degree of satisfaction with the technical support and its benefits. In the future, it is hoped that SSUA and regional associations will be distributed to neighboring island countries to support their SDGs implementations.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.215-225
• /
• 2015

We performed injection tests in a deep-seated confined aquifer to assess the potential of artificial recharge as a means of preventing saltwater contamination, thereby securing groundwater resources for the Nakdong Delta area of Busan City, Korea. The study area comprises a confined aquifer, in which a 10-21-m-thick clay layer overlies 31.5-36.5 m of sand and a 2.8-11-m-thick layer of gravel. EC logging of five monitoring wells yielded a value of 7-44 mS/cm, with the transition between saline and fresh water occurring at a depth of 15-38 m. Above 5 m depth, water temperature is 10-15.5℃, whereas between 5 and 50 m depth the temperature is 15.5-17℃. Approximately 950 m³ of fresh water was injected into the OW-5 injection well at a rate of 370 m³/day for 62 hours, after which the fresh water zone was detected by a CTD Diver installed at a depth of 40 m. The persistence of the fresh water zone was determined via EC and temperature logging at 24 hours after injection, and again 21 days after injection. We observed a second fresh water zone in the OW-2 well, where the first injection test was performed more than 20 days before the second injection test. The contact between fresh and saline water in the injection well is represented by a sharp boundary rather than a transitional boundary. We conclude that the injected fresh water occupied a specific space and served to maintain the original water quality throughout the observation period. Moreover, we suggest that artificial recharge via long-term injection could help secure a new alternative water resource in this saline coastal aquifer.