• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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• 1999.10c
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• pp.663-669
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• 1999

The objective of this study are to examine the feasbility of reuse treated sewage effluent ofr agricultural water, and to obtain basic data for estabilishment of rational agricultural water quality standard. From this study, it appears that reuse of treated sewage as a supplemental irrigation water could be feasible and practical alternative for ultimate sewage disposal which often causes water quality problem to the receiving water body. For full scale applicatiion, further study is recommended on the secific guidelines of major water quality components and publc health.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.3 s.104
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• pp.356-368
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• 2003

Water quality of effluent from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPS) was reviewed to examine the feasibility of agricultural reuse using USEPA and WHO guidelines. It might meet the guidelines for BOD and SS, however, the most critical microbiological concentration was too high and further treatment is required. The pilot study of three treatments were performed to reduce microbiological concentrations. The UV irradiation was proved to be very effective in disinfection of secondary level effluent, and about 30 mW ${\cdot}$ s/$cm^2$ of dose was suggested to meet the even most stringent USEPA guidelines. Slow sand filter demonstrated effective removal of bacteria, and effluent concentration of total coliform (TC), fecal coliform (FC), and E. coli. dropped from about 10,000/100 mL to 300, 200, and 150 MPN/100 mL, respectively, showing over 95% removal. These level of bacterial concentration sufficiently meet the WHO guidelines ($10^3\;{\sim}\;10^5$ FC/100 mL), and could meet the more stringent USEPA guidelines (200 FC/100 mL) if properly applied. Slow sand filter also provided about 50% removal of SS, turbidity, and BOD in addition to bacterial removal. The removal efficiency of pond system was relatively poor, but still showed over 85% removal and effluent concentration of TC, FC, and E. coli was all below 10,000/100 mL. The pond system alone could meet the WHO guidelines, but hardly meet the USEPA guidelines and further treatment might be necessary. Overall, three methods evaluated in the study treat the effluent to meet the WHO microbiological guidelines for agricultural reuse. The UV disinfection and slow sand filter might also could the USEPA guidelines, while the pond system can hardly meet the USEPA guidelines if applied alone. The WHO and USEPA guidelines were made based on data from upland field agricultural system and may not be directly applicable to the paddy field agricultural system. Therefore, national standards for agricultural reuse of reclaimed water should be made considering domestic agricultural systems as well as international guidelines. Also, further investigation is recommended to develop optimum and feasible treatment measures for agricultural reuse of effluent from WWTPs.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.94-106
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• 2003

A pilot study was performed to examine the feasibility of UV disinfection system and the reactivation of indicator microorganisms (TC, FC, E. coli) after UV irradiation for agricultural reuse of reclaimed water. Photoreactivation and dark repair enable UV-inactivated microorganisms to recover and may reduce the efficacy of UV inactivation, which might be drawbacks of the UV disinfection method. The effluent of biofilter for 16-unit apartment house was used as input to the UV disinfection system, and average SS and BOD concentration were 3.8 and 5.7 mg/L, respectively, and the mean level of total coliform was in the range of $1.0\times10^4$ MPN/100mL. UV disinfection was found to be effective and it reduced mean concentration of indicator microorganisms (total coliform, fecal coliform, and E. coli) to less than 100 MPN/100mL within 60s exposure using 17, 25, and 40W lamps. Two UV doses of 6 and 16 mW$\cdot$s/$\textrm{km}^2$ were applied and microorganisms reactivation was monitored under the dark, photoreactivating light, and solar irradiation. Microorganisms reactivation was observed in the UV dose of 6 mW$\cdot$s/$\textrm{km}^2$, and numbers increased up to 5% at the photoreactivating light and 1% at the dark. However, microorganisms were inactivated rather than reactivated at the solar radiation and numbers decreased to non-detectible level about below 2 MPN/100mL in 4 hours. In the case of 16 mW$\cdot$s/$\textrm{km}^2$, microorganism reactivation was not observed indicating that UV dose might affect the reactivation process such as photoreactivation and dark repair. Therefore, concerns associated with microorganism reactivation could be controlled by sufficient UV dose application. Agricultural reuse of reclaimed water might be even less concerned due to exposure to the solar irradiation that could further inactivate microorganisms. The pilot study result is encouraging, however, sanitary concern in water reuse is so critical that more comprehensive investigation is recommended.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.151-159
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• 2003

Absorbent Biofilter Systems (ABS), composed of an anaerobic septic tank, a pump chamber and an absorbent biofilter tank, have been found to economically provide rural on-site wastewater treatment. This study was conducted to assess the potential of ABS effluent as an alternative water resource for agricultural and environmental use, with respect to the removal of pathogenic microorganism and their fertilization effect. A pilot scale ABS was used to compare its removal efficiency of pathogens from effluent water. Overall, more than 95 percent of Salmonella and E. coli were removed. This result demonstrates that a significant reduction in the pathogenic microorganism of effluents can occur in ABS, which implies the feasibility for the use of ABS effluent in agriculture and environment, with the provision of a further simple disinfection step, in order to satisfy the WHO guidelines for the microbiological quality in agriculture. In addition, because of the abundant nutritional content of ABS effluent, the substitution effect of fertilizer (N, P and K) in paddy irrigation, i.e. 2/3 for nitrogen, l/3 for phosphorus and 1/5 for potassium would be expected. Based on the experimental data, the ABS effluent could be used as a new alternative water resource for paddy irrigation, as well as for environmental purposes, such as supplying water to ecological parks in rural villages.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.53-63
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• 2012

The objectives of this study were to develop a linked watershed-waterbody modeling system and to assess the impacts of indirect wastewater reuse on irrigation water quality. The Osan stream watershed within Gyeonggi-do of South Korea was selected for this study. The linked modeling system was composed of the SWAT (Soil and water assessment tool) and QUALKO2 models. The SWAT model was calibrated and validated using the stream discharge and water quality data from 2010 to 2011. Runoff and non-point source pollutants from each subbasin and stream discharge from 1980 to 2009 were simulated by the SWAT model and applied to the QUALKO2 model. The QUALKO2 model was calibrated and validated under the conditions of low water and normal discharges, respectively. Finally, The 10-day irrigation water quality from April to September was simulated. The statistical measures of coefficient of determination ($R^2$), reliability index (RI), and efficiency index (EI) were used to evaluate the system performance. The $R^2$, RI and EI values ranged from 0.5 to 1.0, 1.03 to 1.92, and -35.03 to 0.95, respectively. The 10-day irrigation water quality showed the concentrations of BOD and coliform exceeded the water quality guidelines for wastewater reuse. The linked modeling system can be a useful tool to estimate non-point source pollutant loads in watershed and to control the water quality of effluent from a wastewater treatment plant and irrigation water in the downstream waterbody.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.236-244
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• 1999

A feasibility study was performed to examine the agronomic application of treated sewage on paddy rice culture by field experiment. The domestic sewage was treated by the constructed wetland system which was in subsurface flow type and consisted of sand and macrophyte. The effluent of the wetland system was adjusted to maintain the total nitrogen concentration below $25mgL^{-1}$ and used for irrigation water. Four treatments include (1) irrigation of treated sewage after concentration adjusted with conventional fertilization (TWCF), (2) irrigation of treated sewage after concentration adjusted with half of the conventional fertilization (TWHF), (3) irrigation of treated sewage after concentration adjusted without fertilization (TWNF), and (4) irrigation of treated sewage as it was without fertilization (SWNF). These cases were compared to the control case of tap water irrigation with conventional fertilization (Control). Generally, addition of the treated sewage to the irrigation water showed no adverse affect on paddy rice culture, and even improvement was noticed in both growth and yields. TWCF showed the best result and the yields exceed the Control in about 10%. Overall performance of the treatments was TWCF, Control, TWHF, TWNF, and SWNF in decreasing order. From this study, it appears that reuse of treated sewage as a supplemental irrigation water could be feasible and practical alternative for ultimate sewage disposal which often causes water quality problem to the receiving water body. For full scale application, further study is recommended on the specific guidelines of major water quality components and public health.