• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.671-675
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• 2007

The objective of this study was to clarify the characteristics of the removed micropollutant since the breakthrough of adsorption ability was occurred in biological activated carbon(BAC) process. The removal efficiency of DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon) was 36 % in the breakthrough of BAC occurred by NOM (Natural Organic Matter). The most of removal DOC was found out the adsorbable and biodegradable DOC (A&BDOC). But it was not clear to remove by any mechanism because A&BDOC have simultaneously the adsorption of activated carbon and biodegradation by microorganism in BAC. The removal of bromophenol was examined with BAC and rapid sand filter, for investigation of DOC removal mechanism in the breakthrough of BAC. In this experiment, BAC filter has been operated for 20 months for the treatment of reservoir water. The BAC filter was already exhausted by NOM. Bromophenol, adsorbable and refractory matter, was completely removed by BAC filter. Therefore, it might be removed by the adsorption in BAC. Adsorption isotherms of bromophenol were compared to two BACs which was preloaded with 500 daltons and 3,000 daltons of NOM. BAC preloaded with 3,000 daltons of NOM was not decreased to the adsorbability of bromophenol but BAC preloaded with 500 daltons of NOM was greatly decreased to it. These result indicated that NOM of low molecular weight can be removed by adsorption after a long period of operation and the breakthrough by NOM in BAC. Therefore, micropollutants might be removed through adsorption by saturated BAC.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.343-353
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• 2011

Variations of load in both DOM and RDOM of inflowing rivers to lakes were in the range of 5.01-7.29(${\times}10^2$ kg/day) for AD lake and 1.23-3.75(${\times}10^3$ kg/day) for JY lake during the research period excluding the period directly affected by the strong rainy season and the monsoon and typhoon season. We observed a good relationship($R^2$ > 0.8) between SS load and DOM load (including RDOM) in both inflowing rivers to JY lake. Therefore, it was determined that SS would be an alternative parameter with a rapid and energy-efficient method for the analysis of both DOC and RDOC, which require the analytical equipment and a long time period. Both AD lake and JY lake may act as a DOM(including RDOM) source through primary production in the fall season. Because AD lake and JY lake may not act as a DOM buffer zone, both lakes couldn't control the DOM and RDOM in spring before the rainy season. Therefore to improve water quality in downstream rivers is needed to remove pollutants such as DOM and RDOM before inflowing to these lakes in upstream rivers, or to have the unique landscape of wetlands as a buffer zone.

• 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.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.36-44
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• 2010

This study was performed to investigate the distribution and decomposition characteristics of organic matter in stream water and sewage effluent located in Gwangju. Average of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to total organic carbon (TOC) ratio was approximately 73.9% in the Youngsan river system. The concentration of refractory dossolved carbon (RDOC) was 3.7 mg/L corresponding to 80.9% of the DOC. The ratio of recalcitrant organic carbon was relatively higher than that of biodegradable organic carbon in stream. Oxidation efficiencies in the stream were 45.0% for BOD, 63.0% for $COD_{Mn}$ and 106.5% for CODcr. In case of sewage effluent was 33.6%, 65.7% and 136.1% respectively. Mean decomposition rate ($K_d$) of Youngsan river mainstream, its tributary sites and sewage effluent were about $0.042\;day^{-1}$, $0.043\;day^{-1}$ and $0.028\;day^{-1}$, respectively and the difference was not significant between the mainstream and its tributary sites (t-test, p>0.05). $K_d$ of the sewage effluent was lower than that of stream water.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.674-681
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• 2009

Characteristics of organic matters (OM) in wastewater and the removal efficiencies were investigated using the influent and the effluent samples collected from 21 wastewater treatment plants. The OM characteristics investigated included biodegradability, humic content, specific UV absorbance (SUVA), the distribution percentage of refractory OM (R-OM), and synchronous fluorescence spectra. The types of wastewater (sewage, livestock waste/night soils, industrial waste) were easily distinguished by comparing the synchronous fluorescence spectra of the influent wastewater. The prominent peak of protein-like fluorescence (PLF) was observed for livestock waste/night soils whereas sewage exhibited a unique fluorescence peak at a wavelength of 370 nm. Irrespective of the wastewater types, the distribution percentage of R-OM increased from the influent to the effluent. Livestock waste/night soils showed the highest removal efficiency among all the three types of wastewater. There was no statistical difference of the removal efficiency between a traditional activated sludge and biological advanced treatment processes. Removal efficiency based on dissolved organic carbon DOC presented good correlations with the distribution percentage of R-OM and fulvic-like fluorescence (FLF) of the influent. The prediction for DOC removal efficiency was improved by using multiple regression analyses based on some selected OM characteristics and mixed liquid suspended solid (MLSS).

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.399-408
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• 2018

This research investigated the effects of weir (Ipobo) construction on the dynamics and the related spatial distributions of pollutants inflowing from tributaries (Yanghwacheon and Bokhacheon). Conductivity measurements and water sampling were conducted longitudinally, horizontally, and vertically in the waterbody upstream of the area located in Ipobo. Additionally, collected water samples were used for the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) analysis and fluorescence analysis which results in the SUVA, HIX, BIX, and FI calculation and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). Consequently, the results of the Conductivity, DOC, SUVA, and HIX showed that high concentration of pollutants that were flowing from the area of Bokhacheon which was mixed along the flow of the main river. The results of the BIX and FI did not show significant difference along the river flow which represented that allochthonous and terrestrial DOM, and for this reason was dominated in the whole waterbody rather than just the autochthonous DOM. The PARAFAC results showed that the two fluorescence components, humic-like and protein-like, constituted the fluorescence matrices of the water samples. The prevailing discipline notes that the two components were inflowing from the tributaries, however, a refractory component, humic-like substances, was relatively accumulated near the weir. From the results, the dynamics and spatial distributions of the DOM are dependent on the DOM characteristics, which induces the application of a specialized DOM analysis method to investigate the effects of a subsequent weir construction on the dynamics and spatial distributions of pollutants inflowing from the tributaries.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.458-468
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• 2021

In this study, we investigated the variations of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in an agricultural reservoir during the monsoon period (June to October, 2020) with respect to the organic carbon concentration (DOC), molecular weight distribution, and optical properties. The monsoon period was divided into three phases - beginning storm (BS), during storm (DS), and after storm (AS). Our results showed significant differences in the concentrations and characteristics of DOM during the summer monsoon. The DOC concentrations were decreased after the monsoon, probably due to a dilution effect. In contrast, increasing trends were observed in the specific UV absorbance (SUVA), and relative abundances of humic-like fluorescence and larger-sized compounds. These observations implied that the large-sized and humic-like organic components with terrestrial origins strongly affected the reservoir DOM after the summer monsoon. Meanwhile, biopolymer size fraction, which is associated with algal activity, became more abundant after the monsoon. These results suggest that DOM with autochthonous sources became dominant as a result of the inflow of nutrients into the reservoir after the storm. Spatial changes in DOM within the reservoir were not pronounced as much as the temporal variations. All taken, it can be concluded that the summer monsoon simply led to the decrease of DOM concentrations while the sources and the quality of DOM underwent substantial changes, which may enrich refractory organic matter in the reservoir. This study reveals the importance of in-depth DOM quality monitoring before and after summer monsoon for effective water quality management in agricultural reservoirs.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.595-604
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• 1997

To investigate characteristics of biogeochemical environment of the Korea Deep Ocean Study(KODOSI area in the northeast Pacific Ocean, we preferentially measured Inorganic nutrients and fluorescent organic matters. Typically. the permanent thermocline was well developed at the depth of 200~1000m In the study area. Nitrate. phosphate and silicate were low In the surface mixed layer and Increased with depth. N/P and N/Si showed 15 and 0.2 respectively In the deeper layer. Two fluorophores, biomacromolecule(protein-like) and geomacromolecule (humid-like) , were observed by three dimensional fluorescence excltatlon/ emission spectra matrix. Biomacromolecule(maximum fluorescence at $Ex_{280m}/Em_{330nm}$) ranged from 41.9 to 147.0 TU with its maximum In the surface mixed layer and minimum in deeper water, This is a same trend that has been reported for DOC in the equatorial Pacific. This suggests that biomacromolecule might be labile and converted to refractory humic substance after bacterial degradation In the deeper layer. On the contrary, geomacromolecule(maximum fluorescence at $Ex_{330m}/Em_{430m}$), ranged from 7.6 to 46.5 QSU, showed minimum in the surface nixed layer(euphotic zone) Implying photodegradation and then increased with depth at all stations. In the characteristics of vertical profiles, the relationship between biomacromolecule and geomacromolecule showed negative correlation. Such trend can be attributed to biochemical regeneration or formation of fluorescent materials accompanying oxidation and rennnerallzation of settling organic matter.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.419-424
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• 2009

Characteristics of humic substances on the changes in dissolved organic matter (DOM) characteristics by biodegradation was investigated using three types of the artificial water samples composed of glucose and Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA). Some selected DOM characteristics including the specific UV absorbance (SUVA), the synchronous fluorescence spectra and the molecular weight (MW) were compared for the artificial water samples before and after 28-day microbial incubation. The changes of the DOM characteristics were minimal for SRFA during the incubation whereas they were significant for glucose. SUVA, dissolved organic carbon (DOC)-normalized fluorescence intensity, and MW values of glucose increased, suggesting that such labile organic compounds could be exclusively transformed into more humidified materials by biodegradation. For glucose-SRFA mixture, the selected DOM characteristics were greater than those estimated using the assumption that the individual changes of either glucose or SRFA are conservative for the mixture of the two materials. Our results suggest that the presence of humic substances (HS) may lead to the enhancement of the formation of refractory organic materials during biodegradation of labile compounds. Detailed analyses of size exclusion chromatography (SEC) revealed that the enhancement occurred for the DOM mixture with a MW range between 500 Da to 4000 Da.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2001

Among the biodegradability tests, TOC-HANDAI and OECD method were utilized to examine the degree of biodegradation of endocrine disruptors, Bisphenol A (BPA) and Nonylphenol. Both methods used natural water microcosms and measured their biodegrada-bilities of BPA and Nonylphenol, in terms of TOC or DOC degradation with time for 28 days. Biodegradabilities for BPA, 73-78% with TOC-HANDAI method and 77-81% with OECD method were obtained respectively at the end of experiment. There was no difference in BPA degradation between two methods. BPA degradation was described by two distinct first order decay rates (k$_1$ and k$_2$) which could be separated by a simple visual fitting. Most of the initial decay reaction accelerated within 1-7 days with k$_1$of 0.24-0.34 $day^{-1}$. And the following another long term first order decay coefficient (k$_2$) showed 0.02-0.05 day$^{-1}$ with much flat slope. About 20-25% of initial BPA remained at the end of experiment. It suggests that the remaining TOC components in BPA biodegradation considered to be refractory metabolites of BPA. Nonylphenol at each sampling point was appeared to be mineralized 20-48% of initial TOC concentration. Consequently Nonylphenol seems more recalcitrant against biodegradation. BPA was not detected in the detection limit of ppb in the watershed of Daechung reservoir and Kum river. However 25 ppb concentration of BPA was detected at the influent of industrial wastewater treatment plant in Taejon.