• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.355-358
• /
• 2013

BACKGROUND: Water-born pollution loads by agricultural non-point source (NPS) pollution are expected to become intensified due to ongoing precipitation change. Therefore, it is essential to develop a best management practice (BMP) that is suitable to agricultural environments in Korea. This study aimed to develop an environmental-friendly BMP to reduce NPS pollution load by agricultural activities. An eco-friendly way, small drainage pond, was suggested in this study to avoid direct drainage of agricultural runoffs and eventually reduce the amount of pollutants discharged into the surrounding aqua-environment. METHODS AND RESULTS: A small pond ($12m^2$) was constructed at the corner of a rice paddy field ($1,715m^2$) located in Suwon, Korea. Water was allowed to drain only via a small drainage pond. Sampling was repeatedly made at two locations, one from an entrance and the other from an exit of a pond, during the rice cultivation period (May to October, 2012). Generally, sampling was made only when runoff water drained through a pond, such as during and/or after rain (irrigation). The water quality analysis showed that all quality parameters (SS, $COD_{Mn}$, T-N, and T-P) were improved as water passed through the pond. The amount of runoff water was reduced by 96~100%. Suspended solids and COD concentrations was reduced by 79.3% and 45.6%, respectively. In case of T-N and T-P concentrations, the reduction rates were 52.2% and 60.5%, respectively and the amount of T-N and T-P were reduced by 16.3~73.0% and 15.4~70.1%, respectively. CONCLUSION(S): Our data implies that agricultural NPS pollution from rice paddy fields can be effectively managed when an appropriate drainage water management practice is imposed. In this paper, it was suggested that an installation of a small drainage pond can be effective to prevent not only the nutrient loss from rice fields but also pollutant discharge to surrounding water environments.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.21-27
• /
• 2014

Pig slurry has been considered as environmental waste to be treated in an appropriate manner. Moreover, water-born pollution loads by agricultural non-point source(NPS) pollution are expected to become intensified due to ongoing precipitation change. This study was conducted to develop a best management practice to reduce NPS pollution load by agricultural activity with pig manure compost. An eco-friendly way, small drainage pond, was suggested in this study to avoid direct drainage of agricultural runoffs and eventually reduce the amount of pollutants discharged into the surrounding aqua-environment. A small pond($12m^2$) was constructed at the corner of a rice paddy field($17,15m^2$) located in Suwon, Korea. Water was allowed to drain only via a small drainage pond. Sampling was repeatedly made at two locations, one from an entrance and the other from an exit of a pond, during the rice cultivation period(May to October, 2013). Generally, sampling was made only when runoff water drained through a pond, such as during and/or after rain(irrigation). The water quality analysis showed that all quality parameters(SS, $COD_{Mn}$, T-N, and T-P) were improved as water passed through the pond. The amount of runoff water was reduced by 67.8%. Suspended solids and $COD_{Mn}$ concentrations were reduced by 79.8% and 71.9%, respectively. In case of T-N and T-P amounts, the reduction rates were 73.6% and 74.9%, respectively. Our data implies that agricultural NPS pollution from rice paddy fields with pig manure-based fertilizer can be effectively managed when an appropriate drainage water management practice is imposed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.97-105
• /
• 2008

Nitrogen budgets in Korea in 2005 were estimated using a mass balance approach. Major nitrogen fluxes were divided into three sections: cities, agricultural area, and forest. Nitrogen inputs were chemical and biological fixation, dry and wet deposition, imported food and feed, while crop uptake, volatilization, denitrification, leaching, runoff, and forest consumption were nitrogen outputs. Non-point source(NPS) pollution budgets were also estimated by mass balance approach. Annual total nitrogen inputs budgets were 1,442,254 ton$\cdot$yr$^{-1}$, and outputs were 814,415 ton$\cdot$yr$^{-1}$. Approximately 19.4% of nitrogen input leaked to river and seawater as NPS pollution. It contains nitrogen input 21 percent more than the previous research in 2002. Especially the change of government plans affect nitrogen budget. As a result, in the output field, the whole nitrogen amount due to landfill reduce from 20 percent to less than 1 percent.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.481-488
• /
• 2011

Various development activities have lead to the destruction of the ecosystem such as natural wetlands. In order to protect these natural wetlands, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) in Korea enacted the Wetland Conservation Act in 1999 and designated protected areas for wetland conservation. The MOE adapted the use of Best Management Practices (BMP) such as retention ponds and constructed wetlands to treat the polluted water before entering the water system. One of these projects was a free-water surface flow (FWS) constructed wetland built as a secondary treatment unit for piggery wastewater effluent coming from a livestock wastewater treatment facility. Water quality monitoring for the constructed wetland was conducted during rainfall events. The results showed that the average removal efficiencies of TSS, BOD, TN, TP were 86, 60, 45, 70%, respectively. It was observed that the removal efficiency of particulate matter and phosphorus was high compared to nitrogen. Therefore, a longer hydraulic retention time was needed in order to improve the treatment efficiency of nitrogen. The results of this study can contribute to the wetland design, operation and maintenance of constructed wetlands.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.80-89
• /
• 2017

Researches about NPS(Non-point Pollution Source) reduction have been widely carried out in recent years. A pilot channel-type constructed wetland (wet swale) was constructed in Rongyin area to treat stormwater generated from a green house agro-land of 22.7 ha. From 2006 to 2008, monitoring was conducted to evaluate its performance on the removal effect for organic pollutants as well as nutrients. Totally, sampling trips of 17 rainfall events were made and they covered most types of storm events in Korea. The channel-type constructed wetland have average removal efficiencies of 78.3~92.0%, 56.4~66.1%, 28.2~45.5% and 50.6~66.4% for SS, COD, TN and TP, respectively. According to four methods for estimating the removal efficiency, the average efficiencies of TSS, COD, TN and TP are 86.0%, 60.1%, 30.1% and 53.5%, respectively. From 2006 to 2008, annual efficiency improved due to infiltration potential increase. It was found that most of the pollutants removed in this channel type of wetland was particulate solids bound pollutants, which is assumed fact that it lacks of physico-chemical treatment conditions which are commonly observed in the retention type of constructed wetlands.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.39 no.2 s.116
• /
• pp.187-197
• /
• 2006

A mathematical modeling program called Hydrological Simulation Program-FORTRAN (HSPF) developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) was applied to the Yongdam Watershed to examine its applicability for loading estimates in watershed scale. It was run under BASINS (Better Assessment Science for Integrating point and Nonpoint Sources) program, and the model was validated using monitoring data of 2002 ${\sim}$ 2003. The model efficiency of runoff was high in comparison between simulated and observed data, while it was relatively low in the water quality parameters. But its reliability and performance were within the expectation considering complexity of the watershed and pollutant sources and land uses intermixed in the watershed. The estimated pollutant load from Yongdam watershed for BOD, T-N and T-P was 1,290,804 kg $yr{-1}$, 3,753,750 kg $yr{-1}$ and 77,404 kg $yr{-1}$,respectively. Non-point source (NPS) contribution was high showing BOD 57.2%, T-N 92.0% and T-P 60.2% of the total annual loading in the study area. The NPS loading during the monsoon rainy season (June to September) was about 55 ${\sim}$ 72% of total NPS loading, and runoff volume was also in a similar rate (69%). However, water quality was not necessarily high during the rainy season, and showed a decreasing trend with increasing water flow. Overall, the BASINS/HSPF was applied to the Yongdam watershed successfully without difficulty, and it was found that the model could be used conveniently to assess watershed characteristics and to estimate pollutant loading in watershed scale.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.46 no.12
• /
• pp.1193-1207
• /
• 2013

Increase of impervious area caused by overdevelopment has led to increase of runoff and then the problem of flooding and NPS were brought up. In addition, as decrease of base flow made groundwater level to decline, a stream that dries up is issued. low impact development (LID) method which is possible to mimic hydrological water cycle, minimize the effect of development, and improve water cycle structure is proposed as an alternative. As introduction of LID in domestic increases, the study on small watershed is in process mainly. Also, analysis of property of hydrological runoff and load on midsize watershed, like sewage treatment district, is required, the study on it is still insufficient. So, area applying LID practices from watershed of Dongrae stream is pinpointed and made the ratio and then expand it to watershed of Oncheon stream. Among low impact development practices, Green Roof, Porous Pavement, and Bio- retention are selected for the application considering domestic situations and simulated with SWMM-LID model of each watershed and improvement of water cycle and reduction of non-point pollution loads was analysed. Improvement of water cycle and reduction of non-point pollution loads were analyzed including the property of rainfall and soil over long term simulation. The model was executed according to scenario based on combination of LID as changing conductivity in accordance with soil type of the watershed. Also, this study evaluated area of LID application that meets the efficiency of conventional management as a criteria for area of LID practices applying to sewer treatment district by comparing the efficiency of LID application with that of conventional method.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.18-24
• /
• 2007

Paddy fields are apparently nonpoint source pollution and influence water environment. In order to improve water quality in rivers or lakes, to low nutrient load from paddy fields are required. To establish comprehensive plan to control agricultural non-point source pollution, it is imperative to get a quantitative evaluation on pollutants and pollution load from paddy fields. A field monitoring study was carried out to investigate the water balance and losses of nutrients from fields in Sumjin river basin. The size of paddy fields was 115 ha and the fields were irrigated from a pumping station. The observed total nitrogen loads from paddy fields were larger than those of the unit loads determined by Ministry of Environment data (MOE). It is because the nitrogen fertilization level at the studied field was higher than the recommended rate and the high irrigation and subsequent drainage amount. On the contrary, total phosphorus loads were less than those addressed by MOE since phosphorus fertilization level was lower than that of standard level. Therefore, it was found that fertilization, irrigation, and drainage management are key factors to determine nutrient losses from paddy fields. When the runoff losses of nutrients were compared to applied chemical fertilizer, it was found that 42 to 60% of nitrogen lost via runoff while runoff losses of phosphorus account for 1.3 to 7.6% of the total applied amount during the entire year.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.70-76
• /
• 1999

Since high concentrations of N, P, and organic C cause the excessive eutrophication in water systems, the control of nutrient export from agricultural nonpoint sources has become important. This study was conducted to estimate discharges of N, P, and organic C from a small agricultural watershed of the upper Imgo stream in Youngchun, Kyongbuk. Of the total area(1.420ha), 25% was agricultural land including paddy, upland and orchards and most of the remainder was forest. The resident population in the watershed was 194 in 80 households and relatively small numbers of livestocks including cow were raised. Mean concentrations of nutrients in the stream water were 4.95, 0.80, 6.72, 0.07 and 2.52mg/L for $NO_3-N$, $NH_4-N$, Total N, Total P and COD respectively. Annual discharges in 1997 were 28,991kg of $NO_3-N$. 3,010kg of $NH_4-N$, 37,006kg of Total N. 590kg of Total P, and 29,138kg of COD. There was a strong positive relationship between stream flow and precipitation, and also most of the nutrient discharges occurred in the rainy season (May to August). Since there was no any other industries in the watershed, agricultural practices and sewage from the resident households, forest runoff and livestock wastes were the major sources of NPS discharges. A combination of management options, including management of soil erosion and fertilizer application, could lead to reductions in nutrient exports.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.41 no.11
• /
• pp.1079-1094
• /
• 2008

This study is to evaluate the impact of varying spatial resolutions on the uncertainty of Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) predicted streamflow, non-point source (NPS) pollution loads transport in a small agricultural watershed (1.21 $km^2$) for three cases of model input; Case A is the combination of 2 m DEM, QuickBird land use, Case B is the combination of 10 m DEM, 1/25,000 land use, and Case C is the combination of 30 m DEM, Landsat land use, soil data is used 1/25,000 for three cases respectively. The model was calibrated for 2 years (1999-2000) using daily streamflow and monthly water quality records, and verified for another 2 years (2001-2002). The average Nash and Sutcliffe model efficiency was 0.59 for streamflow and RMSE were 2.08, 4.30 and 0.70 tons/yr for sediment, T-N and T-P respectively. The model was run for a small agricultural watershed with three cases of spatial input data. The hydrological results showed that output uncertainty was biggest by spatial resolution of land use. Streamflow increase the watershed average CN value of QucikBird land use was 0.4 and 1.8 higher than those of 1/25,000 and Landsat land use caused increase of streamflow. On the other hand, The NPS loadings from the model prediction showed that the sediment, T-N and T-P of QuickBird land use (Case A) showed 23.7 %, 43.3 % and 48.4 % higher value than 1/25,000 land use (Case B) and 50.6 %, 50.8 % and 56.9 % higher value than Landsat land use (Case C) respectively.