• 한국환경생태학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국환경생태학회 2003년도 추계학술논문발표회 논문집
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• pp.105-126
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• 2003

In Korea most of annual rainfall is concentrated in several episodic heavy rains during the season of summer monsoon and typhoon. Because of uneven rainfall distribution many dams have been constructed in order to secure water supply in dry seasons. The Han River system has the most dams among Korean rivers, and the river is a series of dams now. Reservoirs need different strategy of water quality control from river water. Autochthonous organic matter and phosphorus should be the major target to be controlled in lakes. In this Paper some problems are discussed that makes efforts of water quality improvement ineffective in lakes of Korea, even after the substantial investment to wastewater treatment facilities.1) Phosphorus is the key factor controlling eutrophication of lakes and the reduction ofphosphors should be the major target of water treatment. However, water quality management strategy in Korea is still stream-oriented, and focused on BOD removal from sewage. Phosphorus removal efficiency remains as low as 10-30%, because biological treatment is adopted for both secondary treatment and advanced treatment. The standard for TP concentration of the sewage treatment plant effluent is 6 mgP/l in most of regions, and 2 mg/l in enforced region near metropolitan water intake point. TP in the effluents of sewage treatment plants are usually 1-2 mg/1, and most of plants meet the effluent regulation without a further phosphorus removal process. The generous TP standard for effluents discourages further efforts to improve phosphorus removal efficiency of sewage treatment. Considering that TP standard for the effluent is below 0.1 mg/l in some countries, it should be amended to below 0.1 mg/l in Korea, especially in the watershed of large lakes.2) Urban runoff and combined sewer overflow are not treated, even though their total loading into lakes can be comparable to municipal sewage discharges on dry days. Chemical coagulation and rapid settling might be the solution to urban runoff in regard of intermittent operation on only rainy days.3) Aggregated precipitation in Korea that is concentrated on several episodic heavyrains per year causes a large amount of nonpoint source pollution loading into lakes. It makes the treatment of nonpoint source discharge by methods of other countries of even rain pattern, such as retention pond or artificial wetland, impractical in Korea.4) The application rate of fertilizers in Korea is ten times as high as the average ofOECD countries. The total manure discharge from animal farming is thought to be over the capacity of soil treatment in Korea. Even though large portion of manure is composted for organic fertilizer, a lot of nutrients and organic matter emanates from organic compost. The reduction of application rate and discharge rate of phosphorus from agricultural fields should be encouraged by incentives and regulations.5) There is a lot of vegetable fields with high slopes in the upstream region of the HanRiver. Soil erosion is severe due to high slopes, and fertilizer is discharged in the form of adsorbed phosphorus on clay surface. The reduction of soil erosion in the upland area should be the major preventive policy for eutrophication. Uplands of high slope must be recovered to forest, and eroded gullies should be reformed into grass-buffered natural streams which are wider and resistant to bank erosion.

• 한국물환경학회지
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.276-287
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• 2013

Domestic sewage contains increasingly more pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), due to rising use of medicines, health supplement food and daily necessities. And various types of industrial wastewater from pollution sources in treatment areas could flow into the public sewerage treatment plants (PSTPs) in metropolitan areas. The conventional PSTPs are designed to treat suspended solids, biodegradable organics, nitrogen and phosphorous from residential and industrial areas and public facilities. However, toxic, conventional, and non-coventional pollutants from non-domestic sources that discharge into sewer system as well as domestic source with various chemicals could not be treated in the conventional PSTPs and discharged untreated to public basin. In this paper we aim to consider the establishment system of effluent standard of PSTPs in comparison with water quality standard of water environment and wastewater discharge regulation. And also we suggest the necessity of regulations on the pretreatment of industrial wastewater as part of efforts to improve water quality in sewerage systems and to protect public basin.

• 한국물환경학회지
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.43-54
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• 2019

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of policies on water quality management based on the changes in pollutants and water quality in Special Water Preservation Area (SWPA) of Lake Paldang watershed from 1990 to 2016. The population, total sewage and flow rate of wastewater in SWPA continuously increased from 1990 to 2016, while the location of new facilities for industrial and livestock facilities has been restricted. However, unlike the buffer zone in which industrial and livestock facilities were continuously reduced after implementing of TMDL, it was found that the effect of land-use regulations on industrial and livestock facilities in SWPA were mitigated by the increase in the size of large facilities. Since 1999 when the emission standard of public sewage treatment plants (STP) was changed, the water quality of Lake Paldang has increased despite the increase of pollutant source. Since emission standard of STP changed in 2012 (BOD 5 mg/L, TP 0.2 mg/L), BOD concentration in Lake Paldang has also improved to the level of water quality in the early 1990s where as TP concentration has remained at its lowest since 1990. BOD and TP average discharge concentration of 43 STP (${\geq}500m^3/day$) in 2016 have been maintained $1.7{\pm}0.7mg/L$ and $0.06{\pm}0.02mg/L$ respectively. While the discharged load of STP in SWPA was decreased by the concentration management, the contribution rate to the total discharged load of non-point pollutants increased to 70 % in 2015, and the contribution rate to the point discharged load of individual treatment facilities increased to 80 %.

• 상하수도학회지
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• 제35권3호
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• pp.205-225
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• 2021

Due to the large-scale production and use of synthetic chemicals in industralized countries, various chemicals are found in the aquatic environment, which are often termed as micropollutants. Effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been identified as one of the major sources of these micropollutants. In this article, the current status of occurrence and removal of micropollutants in WWTPs and their management policies and options in domestic and foregin countries were critically reviewed. A large number of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and industrial chemicals are found in WWTPs' influent, and are only partially removed by current biological wastewater treatment processes. As a result, some micropollutants are present in WWTPs' effluents, which can negatively affect receiving water quality or drinking water source. To better understand and assess the potential risk of micropollutants, a systematic monitoring framework including advanced analytical tools such as high resolution mass spectrometry and bioanalytical methods is needed. Some Western European countries are taking proactive approach to controlling the micropollutants by upgrading WWTP with enahnced effluent treatment processes. While this enahnced WWTP effluent treatment appears to be a viable option for controlling micropollutant, its implementation requires careful consideration of the technical, economical, political, and cultural issues of all stakeholders.