• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.397-404
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• 2011

This research investigates the runoff characteristics of refractory organic matters from Kyongan river watershed. Samples were taken 27 times during dry season, 4 times during rain events and analyzed into flow rate, Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC), Particulate Organic Carbon (POC), Refractory Dissolved Organic Carbon (R-DOC), Refractory Particulate Organic Carbon (R-POC). R-DOC during dry season was the lowest in winter and showed a rising tendency in spring and R-POC changes less than R-DOC. The mass loading of Refractory Total Organic Carbon (R-TOC) in summer takes approximately 80% of 1 year mass loading. During rainy season, EMC of R-DOC was similar to R-DOC in dry season. But maximum EMC of R-POC was 12 times higher than that of R-POC in dry season. Results of the survey show that enhanced management of R-DOC in dry season and R-POC in rainy season is needed.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Biology Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.26-26
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• 2004

This study was conducted to evaluate the characteristics of dissolved orgamc matters based on their origins. The dissolved organic carbon(DOC) represents an index for dissolved organic matter and basically regarded as a source of organic pollution. The monthly variations and vertical profiles of dissolved organic carbon(DOC) in Kumoh reservoir were surveyed from May 2001 to April 2002. In addition, other areas such as river, reservoir, sewage and industrial wastewater were also surveyed in summer 2001. Kumoh reservoir was divided with depth into three layers .: epilimnion, metalimnion and hypolimnion. The proportion of total DOC(T-DOC) was classified by labile DOC(L-DOC) and refractory DOC(R-DOC) on the basis of long-term incubation. DOC of freshwater and Kumoh reservoir was ranged to be 1.6~4.1 mgC/L and 2.1~4.0 mgC/L, respectively. L-DOC accounted for 3~30% of DOC from watershed. Therefore, refractory dissolved organic carbon(R-DOC) was major component of DOC in the watershed. The decomposition rate(k) ranged from 0.008 $d^{-1}$ to 0.083 $d^{-1}$ in Kumoh reservoir. The highest decomposition rate(k) was observed at River Hoein III freshwater. Therefore, modified total organic carbon analyzer is needed to be applied for effective management of dissolved organic matter.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.65-72
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• 2021

In order to evaluate the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM), as indicators of organic matter in the coastal environments, we measured the concentrations of DOC, FDOM, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in saline groundwater (Woljeong, Pyoseon, and Hwasun beaches) and coastal seawater (Haengwon, Gwideok, Pyoseon, and Yeongnak) in Jeju, Korea. The highest concentrations of DOC and COD in groundwater were found in Woljeong and Pyoseon, and those in coastal water were observed in Haengwon and Pyoseon, indicating that the higher concentrations of DOC and COD seem to be associated with saline groundwater-driven dissolved organic matter (DOM) and/or biogeochemical processes. According to origin and optical properties of DOM using FDOM as a tracer, proportion of humic-like FDOM, more refractory DOM, was relatively greater in the groundwater than in the coastal water. With regard to this result, there was no relationship between DOC and COD in groundwater, while DOC showed a good positive correlation (r² = 0.66) with COD in coastal water. This result indicates that COD as an indicator of assessment of DOM has a limitation in which it is difficult to quantify refractory DOM. Although DOC is a potential alternative to COD in the coastal environments, particulate organic carbon cannot be negligible due to relatively higher concentration compared to the open ocean. Therefore, the use of total organic carbon (TOC) as a replacement of COD in the coastal ocean is important, and the evaluation criterion of the TOC is necessary in order to evaluate of organic matter indicator in the various coastal environments.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.476-488
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• 2013

Refractory Dissolved Organic Carbon (RDOC) is becoming more important index on management of water quality, water regulation as well as ecosystem management. We analyzed trends of RDOC using elasticity in the Nakdong river basin. If climate elasticity of streamflow is positive, change of streamflow can be defined by the proportional change in a climatic variable such as precipitation and temperature. Elasticity of streamflow to precipitation and elasticity of RDOC to precipitation were estimated in the present, and we also analyzed the variation of elasticity in the future using climate change scenarios, RCP 8.5/ 4.5. Mean streamflow elasticity is 1.655, and mean RDOC elasticity is 1.983. RDOC is more sensitive to precipitation change than streamflow. The variation of RDOC is directly proportion to precipitation in all scenarios, but the Load of RDOC is dependent on precipitation as well as others. There is a need for additional correlation analysis between RDOC and other factors for accurate prediction.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2013

Changes of organic carbon after the entrance into dam reservoirs were investigated using water samples collected in May, September, and October in 2010 from the inflow sites and the outlets of four selected dam reservoirs-Soyang, Chungju, Chungju regulation, and Uiam. Increase of refractory dissolved organic carbon (R-DOC) was observed only for large dam reservoirs with long residence times whereas the trend was not found for relatively small reservoirs. The effects of residence times on organic carbon changes were further confirmed by significant positive correlations between monthly residence times and the relative increase of either dissolved organic carbon (DOC) or R-DOC concentrations. Comparison of spectroscopic characteristics of DOC revealed that the changes in the large reservoirs in May might result from in-lake processes. The inflow of terrestrial sources of DOM during storms appears to largely affect the DOC quality of the large reservoirs for the rest of the sampling periods. The mechanism, however, did not fully explain the behaviors of DOC for the small sized reservoirs. Our combined results suggested that both residence time and the input of allochthonous carbon sources might substantially influence the quantity of DOC as well as its quality in dam reservoirs.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.697-703
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• 2009

In this study, changes in the composition of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were investigated using water samples collected at a downstream site of the Namhan River near the Lake Paldang ($N37^{\circ}24^{\prime}05.33^{{\prime}{\prime}}E127^{\circ}32^{\prime}25.01^{{\prime}{\prime}}$) during a heavy rain event from July 23 to July 28, 2008. The DOC concentrations varied from 1.68 to 3.18 mg/L with the maxium value at a peak of the river water level. Each DOC sample was fractionated into three compositions including hydrophilic (Hi), hydrophobic acid (HoA) and hydrophobic neutral (HoN) fractions. The results showed that HoA was most abundant fractions, constituting 47.2~56.5% of DOC. Refractory dissolved organic carbon (R-DOC) contents were also determined by measuring the DOC concentration after 28-day dark incubation of the samples. R-DOC content was in the range from 83 to 99% of DOC and it was significantly correlated with HoA contents (r = 0.91, p<0.005), while it did not exhibit such a good correlation with the fractions of Hi and HoN (p>0.02). Our results suggest that the HoA, which is associated with humic substances, may be a major composition of refractory organic matters in rivers during storm events.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.353-358
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• 2017

As a drinking water source of 26 millions people of Seoul metropolitan region, Han river is one of the most important basin. Managing the Non-point source pollution which is regarded as the main cause of water pollution including refractory organic matter is important thing. This research investigates the runoff characteristics of organic matters from main 3 rivers (South Han, North Han, Kyungan). Water quality measurement items include not only carbon-based TOC (Total Organic Carbon), DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon), POC (Particulate Organic Carbon) but also R-TOC (Refractory Total Organic Carbon), R-DOC (Refractory Dissolved Organic Carbon), R-POC (Refractory Particulate Organic Carbon) is researched. The research shows that R-TOC takes approximately 61~83% of TOC. Most of the R-TOC is consist of R-DOC (72~77%). Refractory organic matter have a stable runoff characteristics compared to other organic matter. The organic matter concentrations of South Han river and Kyungan river are the highest in spring time and show a gradual decline. The concentrations of Kyunan river is the highest. Kyungan river's small area and the high city land use ratio seem to be the reason. Loading of organic matter in summer time takes the most loading (62~84%). TOC loadings per unit area of each river is Kyungan river ($1.22ton/km^2$), South Han river ($1.01ton/km^2$), North Han river ($0.91ton/km^2$).

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.125-131
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• 2005

Natural organic matter(NOM) is defined as the complex matrix of organic material and abundant in natural waters. It affects the performance of unit operations for water purification. Several kinds of analytical indicators such as DOC, specific ultraviolet absorbance(SUVA), apparent molecular weight (AMW), fractionation and high performance size exclusive chromatography(HPSEC) have been used to understand characteristics and variations of NOM. This study aims to evaluate the characteristics of NOM in the Geum River system comprising with stream flows and reservoirs. It was identified that SUVA denoting the portion of humic substance in water ranged within 1.60~3.36. Using resin adsorbents, dissolved organic carbon(DOC) was fractionated into three classes: hydrophobic bases(HOB), hydrophobic acids(HOA) and hydrophilic substances(HI). HI dominates in all samples, collectively accounting for more than 62% of the DOC. HOA was the second dominated fraction and it varied considerably but accounted for about 30% of the DOC. The distribution of high molecular weight(HMW) measured by HPSEC being used to determine the molecular weight distribution of aquatic humic substances was 40.1% and 38.7% in reservoir and stream flow, respectively. The distribution of low molecular weight(LMW) in stream flow was 13.2% higher than that in reservoir. And apparent molecular weight less than 1KDa, which include the molecular weight of hydrophilic organic matter, occupied with 69.2% and 68.2% in stream flow and reservoir, respectively. While the molecular weight of 1 to 100 KDa including humic substances ranged with 18.6% and 21.6% in stream flow and reservoir, respectively. Seasonal variation of refractory dissolved organic carbon was similar to that of SUVA.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.969-975
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• 2010

Estimating the organic matter loadings from individual treated sewage has become important for establishment of effective management strategies to control refractory organic matter (R-OM) in watersheds. For this study, regression equations were constructed using treated sewage data to convert the chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations, which are mostly available from open database, into total organic carbon (TOC) and R-OM concentrations. Effluent samples were collected from five major sewage treatment plants (STPs) located upstream of the lake Paldang. Variations in the OM concentrations were not associated with either the location of the STP or the sampling season. The effluent investigated were characterized by higher ratio of R-OM with respect to biodegradable organic matter (B-OM) and higher presence of dissolved organic matters (DOM) versus particulate organic matter (POM). Compared to $COD_{Mn}$, $COD_{Cr}$ exhibited higher oxidation efficiencies and greater variations in the concentrations. The concentrations of $COD_{Mn}$ were positively correlated with dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total organic carbon (TOC), and R-OM concentrations. There was nearly no seasonal and annual variation in the regression equations between $COD_{Mn}$ and TOC or R-OM concentrations. The constructed regression equations for TOC and R-OM were $0.650({\pm}0.071){\times}COD_{Mn}+1.426({\pm}0.575)$ and $0.340({\pm}0.083){\times}COD_{Mn}+2.054({\pm}0.670)$, respectively. The established equations are expected to contribute to estimating OM loadings from the STPs into the lake Paldang and also to compensating for the deficiency of the data for effluent OM concentrations in STP.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.99-106
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• 2024

This study developed an efficient management plan to improve the water quality by analyzing fluctuations in the ratio and amount of various organic substances in streams considering watershed characteristics and rainfall patterns. Monitoring was conducted on three streams and one lake over seven sessions during wet and dry seasons. Water quality indicators including total organic (TOC), refractory dissolved organic (RDOC), and particulate organic (POC) carbons were analyzed using high-temperature combustion oxidation. The three streams (Cheongmi, Yanghwa, and Bokha) displayed high TOC concentrations during the rainy season because the accumulated organic substances from the dry season were washed away by rainfall. By contrast, Paldang Lake exhibited a substantial decrease in TOC concentration due to dilution, which was influenced by watershed and rainfall characteristics. Across all streams and lakes, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) accounted for the highest proportion, at 77.5% of TOC, with RDOC making up 91% of DOC and 71% of TOC. Although POC contributed a small annual proportion to annual TOC, the concentration rapidly increased during late spring and early summer, with increases of 40.403%, 25.99%, and 27.388% in Cheongmi, Yanghwa, and Bokha, respectively. Continuous monitoring of RDOC is essential to identify seasonal fluctuations and changes due to rainfall events. Furthermore, intensive POC management during the rainy season, particularly in May and June, is potentially economical and efficient for water quality management.