• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.769-775
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• 2013

UV-induced transformations in the characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and the subsequent effects on the disinfection by-product formation potential (DBPFP) were investigated using the mixtures of the two humic substances with different sources, and two different size fractions of Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA). 7 day-photodegradation resulted in the decrease of specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA) of the mixtures as well as the specific DBPFP. After the irradiation, however, higher specific DBPFP values were consistently observed at the same range of the SUVA values. This suggests that non UV-absorbing components, generated by the UV-irradiation, may contribute to the formation of DBPs. Two different molecular size fractions of SRFA showed dissimilar responses to photodegradation. The behavior was also influenced by the types of the DBPs generated. Higher levels of trihalomethenes (THMs) were formed per organic carbon for the high molecular fraction compared to the low molecular fraction, whereas no differences were found in the formation of haloacetic acids (HAAs) between the two different size fractions. The formation of the two types of DBPs also differed by the irradiation times. Specific formation potential of THMs consistently increased upon the irradiation, whereas HAAs showed the initial increase followed by the decrease in their specific formation potential.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.893-899
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• 2008

Changes in spectroscopic characteristics and pyrene binding coefficients of terrestrial dissolved organic matters(DOM) were investigated during microbial incubation. The incubation studies were conducted for 21 days using a leaf litter DOM and a soilderived DOM with an inoculum from a river. The dissolved organic carbon(DOC), the specific UV absorbance(SUVA), the synchronous fluorescence spectra, and the pyrene organic carbon-normalized binding coefficient(K$_{oc}$) of the DOM were measured at the incubation days of 0, 3, 7, 14 and 21. After the 21-day incubation, DOC were reduced to 61% and 51% of the original concentrations of the litter DOM and the soil-derived DOM, respectively. Comparison of the spectroscopic characteristics before and after the incubation revealed that the SUVA, the fulvic-like fluorescence(FLF), the humic-like fluorescence(HLF) of the different DOM were enhanced by the incubation whereas the protein-like fluorescence(PLF) was reduced. This indicates that more aromatic and humic-like compounds were enriched during the biodegradation process while biodegradable and weak carbon structures were depleted. Irrespective of the DOM sources, SUVA values showed a positive relationship with pyrene K$_{oc}$ with a correlation coefficient of 0.97. The FLF and HLF also exhibited good correlations with K$_{oc}$ values although different regression equations were obtained from the different DOM. Our results suggest that the selected spectroscopic characteristics could be good estimation indices for the changes of the binding reactivity of DOM for hydrophobic organic contaminants during biodegradation process.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 2016

This study investigates the effect of effluent organic matter (EfOM) from sewage wastewater treatment plants on estrogenic activity reduction of bisphenol A (BPA) by UV photolysis. The EfOM and Suwannee River natural organic matter (SR-NOM) as reference were isolated into hydrophobic (HPO), transphilic (TPI) and hydrophilic (HPI) fractions depending on polarity. The specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA) analysis indicated that EfOM showed similar properties to microbially derived organic matters with low hydrophobicity, which is different from SR-NOM having high hydrophobicity. UV irradiation upto 3 hr significantly reduced SUVA values of both EfOM and SR-NOM (p<0.0001), depending on the polarity of organic matters. In the absence of organic matters, the relative estrogenic activity (REA) of BPA ($5.0{\times}10^{-5}M$) was decreased from 86% to 63% by UV photolysis (2 hr). However, the decrease of mean REA was from 68% to 37% in the presence of organic matters, which was significantly independent on the type (EfOM or SR-NOM) and polarity (HPO, TPI or HPI) of organic matters (p>0.05). As a result, the reduced REA by UV photolysis of BPA with and without organic matters was 31% and 23%, respectively, suggesting that both EfOM and SR-NOM accelerated the photolytic reduction of BPA estrogenic activity.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.843-849
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• 2007

Monitoring of NOM characteristics is important for improving removal efficiency of natural organic matter (NOM) in water treatment processes. In this study, several NOM characteristics, which include specific UV absorbance (SUVA), total carbonate content, molecular weight distribution, and fluorescence properties, were measured using samples collected from a pilot-scale water treatment plant consisting of coagulation/flocculation (C/F), filtration, ozonation and granular activated carbon (GAC) processes. The highest removal of NOM was observed in C/F and filtration processes as demonstrated by the reduction of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) by 25% and 21%, respectively. Despite nearly no change in DOC, however, the lowest SUVA value and the highest total carbohydrate content were observed in the sample from ozonation process. This indicates that non-degradable aromatic compounds become depleted and biodegradable organic compounds are enriched during the process. Comparison of synchronous fluorescence spectra of the samples showed that ozoation process increased protein-like fluorescence while it decreased fulvic-like and terrestrial humic-like fluorescence. Consistently, a slight peak of protein-like fluorescence was observed in the sample from ozonation process. The greatest change in molecular weight distributions of the samples was observed in C/F process. Comparison of size exclusion chromatogram of the samples revealed that NOM fractions with the molecular weight greater than 2000 Da were reduced by over 90% after C/F process. SUVA values and total carbohydrate content of the samples were well correlated with a ratio of protein-like fluorescence and terrestrial humic-like fluorescence intensities with the correlation coefficients of 0.99 and 0.91, respectively. This suggests that synchronous fluorescence properties of NOM could be used as useful tolls for monitoring changes of some NOM characteristics during water treatment processes.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.337-347
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• 1999

This study was carried out to evaluate the characteristics of dissolved organics based on their origins, which were divided into two categories. The first group consisted of river, lake and secondary sewage treatment effluent, which were chosen as representative of their origins. The second group were artificial samples which were made of AHA(Aldrich humic acids) and WHA(Wako humic acids). Physicochemical characteristics, biological degradability and THMEP(trihalomethane formation potential) of the samples were analysed based on the AMWD(apparent molecular weight distribution). Large portion of dissolved organic carbon(DOC) in the river and lake samples was comprised of LMW(low molecular weight), which that of AHA and WHA was HMW(high molecular weight). The DOC of the lake was evenly distributed in the all range of molecular weight. The river, lake and secondary treated effluent have lower ultraviolet(UV) absorbance at 254nm, and have a higher amount of humic acids. Higher absorbance of humic acids means that aliphatic bond and benzenoid type components that absorb UV light were contained in these kind of humic acids. It was expected that lake sample was the most biodegradable in the different samples investigated, and in order of secondary sewage treatment effluent, river, WHA and AHA based on the result of determination of specific ultraviolet absorbance(SUVA). Biodegradability showed similar result except for AHA, while dissolved organics in the range of LMW decreased during the biodegradability test, and on the contrary those of HMW increased. Production of the SMPs(soluble micobial products) was observed during humicfication of dissolved organics and the SMPs were higher production of the SMPs. THM formation was high in the samples containing HMW and similar tendency was shown in the THMEP(trihalomethane formation potential), except for WHA.

• 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 of Water and Wastewater
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.337-345
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• 2015

Two step rapid filter system as a pre-treatment for the injected water into aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) in Korea was developed to reduce physical blockage and secure the volume of the injected water. First, single rapid sand filters with three different media sizes (0.4~0.7, 0.7~1.0 and 1.0~1.4 mm) were tested. Only two sizes (0.4~0.7 and 0.7~1.0 mm) satisfied target turbidity, below 1.0 NTU. However, they showed the fast head loss. To prevent the fast head loss and secure the volume of the injected water, a rapid anthracite filter with roughing media size (2.0~3.4 mm) were installed before a single rapid sand filter. As results, both the target turbidity and reduction of head loss were achieved. It was determined that the media size for a rapid sand filter in two step rapid filter system (i.e. a rapid anthracite filter before a rapid sand filter) was 0.7~1.0 mm. In addition, the effects of coagulant doses on the removal of natural organic matter (NOM), which might cause a biological clogging, were preliminarily evaluated, and the values of $UV_{254}$, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and SUVA were interpreted.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.861-866
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate the biodegradation of dissolved organic matter derived from animal carcass disposal soil using soil inhabited bacteria and to identify the bacteria involved in the biodegradation. The two soils were obtained from the animal carcass burial sites located in Anseong, Gyeonggi-do, Korea. The results indicated that during the biodegradation experiments (56 days), 48% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was mineralized within 13 days in soil-derived solution 1 (initial DOC = 19.88 mgC/L), and the DOC concentration at 56 days was $8.8{\pm}0.4$ mg C/L, indicating 56% mineralization of DOC. In soil-derived solution 2 (initial DOC = 19.80 mgC/L), DOC was mineralized drastically within 13 days, and the DOC concentration was decreased to $6.0{\pm}0.4$ mg C/L at 56 days (76% mineralization of DOC). Unlike DOC value, the specific UV absorbance ($SUVA_{254}$) value, an indicator of proportion of aromatic structures in total organic carbon, tended to increase until 21 days and then decreased thereafter. The $SUVA_{254}$ values in soil-derived solutions 1 and 2 were the highest at 21 days. The microbial analysis demonstrated that Pseudomonas fluorescens, Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Nocardioides simplex, Pseudomonas mandelii, Bosea sp. were detected at 14 days of incubation, whereas Pseudomonas veronii appeared as a dominant species at 56 days.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.5-10
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• 2018

This study was evaluated the characteristics of organic materials in the water source and the removal characteristics of organic materials by ultrafiltration including mixing and coagulation process. As a results of the study, it was found that the total organic carbon in the water source was mostly caused by the dissolved organic materials. As the specific ultraviolet absorbance value of the raw water was low, we found the soluble organic material has a high hydrophilic and low molecular material composition ratio. As a result of ultrafiltration experiment including mixing and coagulation process, the average removal rate of total organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon and ultraviolet absorbance at 254 were 37.9%, 30.3%, and 28.2%, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.560-567
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• 2009

Treated or untreated wastewater may be a major source of refractory organic matters (R-OM) in drinking water sources. For this study, spectroscopic characteristics of wastewater OM were investigated using the samples from 20 wastewater treatment plants, which are located at the upstream of the lake Paldang, to suggest a estimate index for R-OM in wastewater. R-OM was quantified by measuring total organic carbon (TOC) concentration of the wastewater samples remaining after 28-day dark incubation. Among the traditional OM indices such as chemical oxygen demand (COD) and initial TOC, CODMn showed the lowest correlation coefficients with R-TOC of the samples. The ratios of carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD) to $COD_{Cr}$ had a better correlation with the percent distribution of R-OM than $BOD/COD_{Cr}$ ratios. terrestrial humic-like fluorescence (THLF) exhibited the highest correlation coefficient with R-TOC among the indices obtained from the synchronous fluorescence spectra of the samples. Milori index, one of the humification indices, showed a good correlation with the percent distribution of wastewater. This study demonstrated that fluorescence properties might be a better indices to estimate the concentrations and the distributions of wastewater OM compared to the specific UV absorbance (SUVA) values. Some useful formulas based on OM spectroscopic characteristics were finally suggested to predict R-OM in wastewater.