• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.22-32
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• 2012

This study suggests a method to grade groundwater quality quantitatively using statistical approaches for evaluating the quality of groundwater in wells included in the Groundwater Quality Monitoring Network (GQMN). The proposed analysis method is applied to GQMN data from 2001 to 2008 for nitrate nitrogen, chloride, trichloroethylene, potential of hydrogen (pH), and electrical conductivity. The analysis results are obtained as groundwater quality grades of the groundwater representing each of the monitoring stations. The degree of groundwater contamination is analysed for water quality parameters, district, and usage. The results show that the degree of groundwater contamination is relatively high by nitrate nitrogen, bacteria and electrical conductivity and at Seoul, Incheon, Gwangju, Gyeonggido and Jeollado. The degree of contamination by nitrate nitrogen and trichloroethylene is especially high when the groundwater is used for agricultural and industrial water, respectively. It is evaluated that potable groudnwater in GQMN is significantly vulnerable to nitrate nitrogen and bacteria contamination.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.82-94
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• 2021

Facilities for low impact development (LID) or groundwater recharge have the high potential spreading groundwater nitrate contamination because of the rapid infiltration. This study was initiated to remove nitrate from the waters using agricultural byproducts as organic sources for denitrification during infiltration. As the first step of this purpose, we experimentally tested the denitrifying efficiency of 4 organic materials (pine tree woodchips, cherry leaves, rice straws, and rice hulls) and tried to identify the key factors controlling the efficiency. For this study, we precisely investigated the change of chemical reactions during the experiment by analyzing various geochemical parameters. The result shows that the denitrification efficiency is not simply linked to the availability of the easily decomposable contents in the organic matter. It is found that avoiding the severe pH decrease due to the CO₂ generation is the essence to derive the efficient denitrifying conditions when organic matters were used.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.241-244
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• 2013

Nitrate is one of the major nutrients in plants, and nitrate fertilizer often overused for the high yields of crops. Nitrate deposit in soil became one of the major reasons causing salt stress. Specially, salt stress is a serious problem in the soils of plastic film or glass houses. In this study, six microorganisms have been isolated from the wet soils near the disposals of livestock farms and their nitrate uptake activities were investigated. These bacteria were able to remove nitrate as high as 1,000-3,000 ppm (10-50 mM). The strain PCE3 showed the highest nitrate uptake activity and it removed more than 3,700 ppm. In order to identify these bacteria, genes of 16S rRNA were sequenced and analyzed. Phylogenetic trees were constructed with the neighbor-joining methods. Among these bacteria, strain PCE3 was identified as Bacillus species. When the growth and nitrate uptake activities were measured, both were maximal at $37^{\circ}C$ and optimal pH was pH 7-9. Bacillus sp. PCE3 removed nitrate up to 40-60 mM (2,500-3,700 ppm) depending on the nitrate concentration in media. Therefore, Bacillus sp. PCE3 can be a good candidate for the microbial remediation of nitrate-deposited soils in glass and plastic film houses.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.387-393
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• 2011

We analyzed the particle size distributions of three commercially available Devarda's alloy (DA) products, tested the nitrate recoveries of each particle size category, and examined the amounts of DA required for 100% recovery by varying $NO_3$-N concentration from 0.5 to 10 mg. We observed that use of DA coarser than 200 mesh resulted in poor analytical recovery (<80%). While the tested alloys were considered to be fine enough (>90% of the particles were less than 100 mesh), the recovery dramatically declined from 80% to 10% in a high concentration range (4 to 10 mg N). Satisfactory recovery was obtained by increasing the amount of finer DA (less than 300 or 450 mesh). However, there was no quantitative relationship between the amount of fine DA and nitrate recovered. Generally, the amount of nitrate reduced per unit DA decreased as the recovery efficiency declined. These results suggest that a sufficient amount of DA must be determined based on particle size distribution, and that treatment of at least two levels of DA and comparison of the subsequent change in nitrate recovery is required for soils containing high levels of nitrate. In addition, further studies are encouraged to account for the observed stoichiometric dis-equivalence of recovered nitrate N per unit mass of DA.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.189-192
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• 2005

We tested the field adaptation of Betula schmidtii on the abandoned coal-mine soil with sludge amendment methods for promoting physiological activity of B. schmidtii seedlings under several environmental stress. Sewage sludges were amended to coal-mine soil with B. schmidtii seedlings which grown in the mixture of artificial soil and composted sludge soil before transplanting (before-fertilized treatment, BF) and fertilized with composted sludge after transplanting (after-fertilized treatment, AF). The percent of establishment of seedlings for AF (80.7%) was lower than that for BF (92.7%). Nitrate reductase activity and photosynthetic pigment content were higher in AF than in BF, but malondialdehyde (MDA) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were lower in AF than in BF These results represent that after-fertilized seedlings increase resistance against physiological stress at field condition using nitrogen source of composted sludge. On the contrary, before-fertilized seedlings were susceptible to environmental stress on abandoned coal-mine soil by exhausting of nitrogen source from composted sludge.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.48-52
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• 2011

The effect of soil water content on the transformation potential of N compounds derived from hydrolysis of urea applied in a reclaimed tidal soils which was saline-sodic was observed to evaluate nitrification rates of urea. Soil samples were collected from Moonpo series at the newly reclaimed area in Saemanguem. For the transformation potential of N compounds from urea (46% N), newly reclaimed tidal soils (RS) were amended with urea at the rates of 0, 10, and 20 kg $10a^{-1}$. With leachate obtained from the incubated RS in a leaching tube at $25^{\circ}C$, urea hydrolysis and nitrification were measured for a total of 30days. The cumulative amounts of $NO_3{^-}$-N in each of the four soils treated with urea was linear with time of incubation. Results showed that increase in pH occurred with increasing application rate of urea and volumetric water content due to hydrolysis of urea. The total N in the RS was decreased with incubation time, indicating that rates of urea hydrolysis was influenced by soil moisture conditions. Also, the cumulative amount of nitrate in RS gradually increased with increase in time of incubation.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.19-26
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• 2012

The influence of operation time on electrokinetic restoration was investigated to remove salts from sulfate-accumulated greenhouse soil. Operation time is directly related to the process cost, therefore, we determined the relationship between operation time and removal of salts. Nitrate and sodium were removed almost completely within 2 weeks, chloride and calcium was removed in proportion to the operation time. Sulfate was accumulated at the center of anode and cathode. The soil electrical conductivity (EC), an indicator for soil salinity, showed similar shape with the residual sulfate after electrokinetic treatment. The soil EC was not changed after 2 weeks, however, the energy consumption increased with operation time. Based on the experimental results, most salts except sulfate were removed within 2 weeks, but sulfate was not removed during same time period. For the further removal of sulfate, longer operation time is in need.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.30-36
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• 2003

The effect of humic acid on the simultaneous removal of nitrate and phosphate was investigated in a micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF). At the low molar ratio of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) to contaminants, the removal of nitrate was lower to 50％ by 100 ppm of humic acid due to the competition for binding on micelles. At the molar ratio higher than 3, however, the removal of nitrate was over 80％. Phosphate was removed over 80% at the molar ratio higher than 1. The CPC and humic acid were rejected over 99 ％ by UF membrane. The flux did not decrease by 100 ppm of humic acid but rather slightly increased since the humic acid adsorbed on the membrane made the membrane more hydrophilic. As a result, humic acid did not diminish the performance of MEUF in the simultaneous removal of nitrate and phosphate.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.77-82
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• 2004

Quantifying rates of microbial processes under subsurface conditions is difficult, and is most commonly approximated by laboratory studies using aquifer materials. In this study a single-well, 'push-pull' test method is adapted for the in situ determination of denitrification rates in groundwater aquifers. The rates of stepwise reduction of nitrate to nitrite, nitrous oxide, and molecular nitrogen were determined by performing a series of push-pull tests at an experimental well field of Korea University. A single Transport Test, one Biostimulation Test, and four Activity Tests were conducted for this study. Transport tests are conducted to evaluate the mobility of solutes used in subsequent tests. These included bromide (a conservative tracer), fumarate (a carbon and/or source), and nitrate (an electron acceptor). At this site, extraction phase breakthrough curves for all solutes were similar, indicating apparent conservative transport of the solutes prior to biostimulation. Biostimulation tests were conducted to stimulate the activity of indigenous heterotrophic denitrifyinc microorganisms. Biostimulation was detected by the simultaneous production of carbon dioxide and nitrite after each injection. Activity tests were conducted to quantify rates of nitrate, nitrite, and nitrous oxide reduction. Estimated zero-order degradation rates decreased in the order nitrate '||'&'||'gt; nitrite '||'&'||'gt; nitrous oxide. The series of push-pull tests developed and field tested in this study should prove useful for conducting rapid, low-cost feasibi1ity assessments for in situ denitrification in nitrate-contaminated aquifers.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.21-26
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• 2008

Nitrate adsorption from aqueous solutions onto zinc chloride ($ZnCl_2$) treated coconut Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) was studied in a batch mode at two different initial nitrate concentrations (25 and 50 mg/L). The rate of nitrate uptake on prepared media was fast in the beginning, and 50% of adsorption was occurred within 10 min. The adsorption equilibrium was achieved within one hour. The mechanism of adsorption of nitrate on $ZnCl_2$ treated coconut GAC was investigated using four simplified kinetic models : the rate parameters were calculated for each model. The kinetic analysis indicated that pseudo-second-order kinetic with pore-diffusion-controlled was the best correlation of the experimental kinetic data in the present adsorption study.