• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.462-469
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• 2017

Eutrophication and shortage of phosphate ore raise the necessity of phosphate removal and recovery from wastewater treatment plants. Especially, a sludge treatment system containing highly concentrated phosphate should be targeted for phosphate removal and recovery. This study thus aimed to evaluate the capability of the struvite crystallization process for phosphate removal and recovery from a sludge treatment system of a wastewater treatment plant. Analysis on phosphate concentrations and masses in the sludge treatment system revealed that digested sludge and centrate have phosphate concentrations and masses, high enough to adopt the struvite crystallization process. Chemical equilibrium modeling indicated that the struvite crystallization reaction substantially occurred with pH higher than 8 and $Mg^{2+}$ concentration 1.2 times higher than its theoretical requirement. A series of batch tests with digested sludge and centrate indicated that the phosphate removal reaction by struvite crystallization followed a first-order kinetics and reached over 80% removal efficiency at equilibrium. Aeration in the batch tests was found to purge $CO_2$ in sludge or centrate and increase pH up to 8.7, without adding NaOH. Thus, we concluded that the struvite crystallization process could be an efficient and economical process for phosphate removal and recovery from a wastewater treatment plant.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.239-245
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• 2014

This study analyzed a comprehensive database including 6331 ready-mixed concrete plant mixtures to quantitatively assess the environmental impact of concrete under mixture proportions variable according to the domestic region and season. The environmental impact indicator includes global warming, photochemical oxidant creation, abiotic resource depletion, acidification, eutrophication and human toxicity, which are determined from categorization, characterization, normalization and weighting process based on Korea lifecycle inventories. The determined environmental impact indicator was also normalized by concrete compressive strength ($f_{ck}$), which is defined as impact index, to calculate the environmental impact per unit strength of 1 MPa. The most common compressive strength of concrete used in the country is estimated to be 24 MPa and 27 MPa. For $f_{ct}$ of 24 MPa, the lowest environmental impact indicator is observed in Ulsan, whereas the highest region is Gwangju and Daegu. This difference according to domestic region is primarily resulted from by the replacement of different supplementary cementitious materials. Furthermore, the impact index of concrete with $f_{ck}$ of 24 MPa is higher by approximately 5% at wintertime than at summertime and standard season. The impact index gradually decreases with the increase of $f_{ck}$ up to 35 MPa, beyond which it remains constant.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2009

This study was conducted to assess the impact of agricultural land use on the water quality in mountain village farmlands. Two soil types, paddy and upland soil were analysed for their chemical properties. Although, pH and organic matter contents were not significantly different to each other, concentrations of available P and exchangeable K and Ca were much higher in upland soil compared with those in paddy soil. The results of water quality analysis indicated that, in Goseong-cheon watershed, the nutrients contents were much higher in downstream area than in upstream area. Particularly, the elevation of $COD_{Mn}$ and T-P were significant during rainy season. When paddy fields coexist with upland fields, SS, T-N, and T-P concentrations in paddy fields were lower than those of upland fields. This may indicate that paddy fields possess an water-purifying ability by absorbing nutrients. This effect may reduce excessive nutrients discharged into the neighboring streams which may cause eutrophication problem. The difference between inflow and outflow of nitrogen and phosphorus during the cultivation period were measured as -98.9 kg $ha^{-1}$ and -29.7 kg $ha^{-1}$, which means that nutrient outflow was higher than inflow. This may suggest that much nutrient was discharged during the crop harvest period.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.179-195
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• 2004

The trophic state of the coastal waters of the southern part of Korea was assessed using biogeochemical data obtained from the National Marine Environmental Monitoring Program conducted by the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute for six years. The trophic state of different areas, analyzed by non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) analysis, could divide the areas into three groups. Masan Bay, with suboxic water masses and/or the highest concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus occurred, was assessed as being in a hypertrophic state. Ulsan Bay, Onsan Bay, Busan and Jinhae Bay, located near strong point sources, were in a eutrophic state. Other areas, including Tongyong, Yosu, Mokpo and Jeju island, were evaluated as being in a mesotrophic state. During 1997 to 2002, the average values of excess nitrogen, which is the difference between the measured dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and the corrected DIN using the Redfield ratio, were positive at Ulsan, Onsan, and Busan, where there were inflows from polluted rivers. In contrast, those were negative values in Haengam Bay, Gwangyang Bay and nearby Yosu. This suggests that the limiting element for phytoplankton growth differed among sites. The time series data of excess nitrogen showed gradual decrease over time in the hypertrophic waters, but the opposite trend in the mesotrophic waters. This indicated that the ratio of nitrogen to phosphate varied according to the trophic state of the coastal waters. The enrichment of organic matter in sediment in eutrophic waters would disturb the normal pattern of biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen and phosphate. In order to assess the condition of the coastal environment, the benthic boundary layer should be considered.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.277-284
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• 2015

In order to analyze the contamination level of sediment samples taken from Chusori and Chudong areas in Daechung Reservoir, the particle size and concentrations of organics and nutrients were analyzed and phosphorus fractionation analysis was conducted. The average fraction of silt-sized particles was 92% in the sediments taken from Chudong area and Chusori area at the site adjacent to main current, which was higher than that from the upper Chusori area. The concentrations of total phosphorus in the sediments at Chusori and Chudong area were 999 (${\pm}98$) and 1,123 (${\pm}119$) mg/kg sediment, respectively. The fractions of autochthonous phosphorus, which can be readily eluted by change of environmental conditions, were much higher than those of allochthonous phosphorus, indicating the internal load can contribute the eutrophication in these areas. The concentrations of total nitrogen were over 5,600 mg/kg sediment in all samples, which is the guideline of Contamination Assessment of River and Lake Sediments of the Ministry of Environment, indicating the contamination level of total nitrogen is serious in the sediments. It is concluded that the countermeasures to manage the quality of sediments are required to improve the water quality in the Daechung Reservoir.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.832-841
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• 2013

In recent years, eutrophication in the Paldang Lake has become one of the major environmental problems in Korea as it may threaten drinking water safety and human health. Thus it is important to understand the phenomena and predict the time and magnitude of algal blooms for applying adequate algal reduction measures. This study performed seasonal water quality assessment and chlorophyll-a prediction using Bayseian simple/multiple linear regression analysis. Bayseian regression analysis could be a useful tool to overcome limitations of conventional regression analysis. Also it can consider uncertainty in prediction by using posterior distribution. Generally, chlorophyll-a of a P2(Paldang Dam 2) site showed high concentration in spring and it was similar to that of P4(Paldang Dam 4) site. For the development of Bayseian model, we performed seasonal correlation. As a result, chlorophyll-a of a P2 site had a high correlation with P5(Paldang Dam 5) site in spring (r = 0.786, p<0.05) and with P4 in winter (r = 0.843, p<0.05). Based on the DIC (Deviance Information Criterion) value, critical explanatory variables of the best fitting Bayesian linear regression model were selected as a $PO_4-P$ (P2), Chlorophyll-a (P5) in spring, $NH_3-N$ (P2), Chlorophyll-a (P4), $NH_3-N$ (P4) in summer, DTP (P2), outflow (P2), TP (P3), TP (P4) fall, COD (P2), Chl-a (P4) and COD (P4) in winter. The results of chlorophyll-a prediction showed relatively high $R^2$ and low RMSE values in summer and winter.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.81-94
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• 2006

The water quality impacts of forest fragmentation at the Doam-dam watershed were evaluated in this study. For this ends, the watershed scale model, Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was utilized. To exclude the effects of different magnitude and patterns in weather, the same weather data of 1985 was used because of significant differences in precipitation in year 1985 and 2000. The water quality impacts of forest fragmentation were analyzed temporarily and spatially because of its nature. The flow rates for Winter and Spring has increased with forest fragmentations by $8,366m^3/month$ and $72,763m^3/month$ in the S1 subwatershed, experiencing the most forest fragmentation within the Doam-dam watershed. For Summer and Fall, the flow rate has increased by $149,901m^3/month$ and $107,109m^3/month$, respectively. It is believed that increased flow rates contributed significant amounts of soil erosion and diffused nonpoint source pollutants into the receiving water bodies. With the forest fragmentation in the S1 watershed, the average sediment concentration values for Winter and Spring increased by 5.448mg/L and 13.354mg/L, respectively. It is believed that the agricultural area, which were forest before the forest fragmentation, are responsible for increased soil erosion and sediment yield during the spring thaw and snow melts. For Spring and Fall, the sediment concentration values increased by 20.680mg/L and 24.680mg/L, respectively. Compared with Winter and Spring, the increased precipitation during Summer and Fall contributed more soil erosion and increased sediment concentration value in the stream. Based on the results obtained from the analysis performed in this study, the stream flow and sediment concentration values has increased with forest fragmentation within the S1 subwatershed. These increased flow and soil erosion could contribute the eutrophication in the receiving water bodies. This results show that natural functionalities of the forest, such as flood control, soil erosion protection, and water quality improvement, can be easily lost with on-going forest fragmentation within the watershed. Thus, the minimize the negative impacts of forest fragmentation, comprehensive land use planning at watershed scale needs to be developed and implemented based on the results obtained in this research.

• 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.