Kwang-Wook Jung

The effects of spatial variability of land use on stream water quality in a costal watershed

Researchers generally accept that land use types within a watershed closely relate with the water quality characteristics of streams. Despite numerous studies investigating the relationships between water quality and land use, there are increasing concerns about the geographical variation and lack of spatial integration in previous studies. We investigated the relationships between land use and water quality characteristics including biological oxygen demand (BOD5), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and Escherichia coli in the Wha-Ong estuarine reservoir watershed in Korea, which has spatially integrated land uses. Residential and paddy areas appear to be positively and negatively correlated, respectively, with degraded water quality. The spatial variations of these relationships were also examined using zonal analysis. Some results contrasted with those of previous studies that were conducted mostly in developed Western countries and may reflect the different land use intensities and agricultural practices in Korea. Relationships across zones, distinguished by distances from streams, were inconsistent and erratic, suggesting that the relationships between remote land uses and water quality may be affected more significantly by sub-basin characteristics than by the land use itself. The geographical differences and spatial variations found in this study indicate that caution must be taken in generalizing the relationship between land use and water quality.

Model Development for Nutrient Loading Estimates from Paddy Rice Fields in Korea

Abstract A field experiment was performed to evaluate water and nutrient balances in paddy rice culture operations during 2001–2002. The water balance analysis indicated that about half (50–60%) of the total outflow was lost by surface drainage, with the remainder occurring by evapotranspiration (490–530 mm). The surface drainage from paddy fields was mainly caused by rainfall and forced-drainage, and in particular, the runoff during early rice culture periods depends more on the forced-drainage due to fertilization practices. Most of the total phosphorus (T-P) inflow was supplied by fertilization at transplanting, while the total nitrogen (T-N) inflow was supplied by the three fertilizations, precipitation, and from the upper paddy field, which comprised 13–33% of the total inflow. Although most of the nutrient outflow was attributed to plant uptake, nutrient loss by surface drainage was substantial, comprising 20% for T-N and 10% for T-P. Water and nutrient balances indicate that reduction of surface drainage from paddy rice fields is imperative for nonpoint source pollution control. The simplified computer model, PADDIMOD, was developed to simulate water and nutrient (T-N and T-P) behavior in the paddy rice field. The model predicts daily ponded water depth, surface drainage, and nutrient concentrations. It was formulated with a few equations and simplified assumptions, but its application and a model fitness test indicated that the simulation results reasonably matched the observed data. It is a simple and convenient planning model that could be used to evaluate BMPs of paddy rice fields alone or in combination with other complex watershed models. Application of the PADDIMOD to other paddy rice fields with different agricultural environments might require further calibration and validation.

Seasonal performance of constructed wetland and winter storage pond for sewage treatment in Korea.

Abstract A pilot study was performed from July 1998 to December 2002 to examine the feasibility of a constructed wetland system for sewage treatment in small communities of Korea. To maintain treatment performance during the winter period, an intermittent-discharge pond was connected to the wetland; its effects were evaluated from December 2001 to April 2003. The subsurface flow (SSF) wetland was satisfactory for treating sewage with good removal efficiency even during the winter period. The wetland effluent concentrations of BOD5 and TSS were often higher in winter than in the growing season, but this was explained by the higher loading rates, rather than lower removal efficiency. The relatively poor-quality wetland effluent was further polished during winter in the pond. The upper layer of the pond water column became remarkably clear immediately after ice melt. Overall, the wetland system was found to be adequate for treating sewage with stable removal efficiency, and the intermittent-discharge pond was found to be effective for further polishing if necessary. Therefore, a wetland and subsequent pond system is recommended as a practical alternative for treating sewage in small communities in Korea, and partial discharge of pond water in March is suggested.

Quantitative Estimation of Pollution Loading from Hwaseong Watershed using BASINS/HSPF

A mathematical modeling program called Hydrological Simulation Program-FORTRAN (HSPF) developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was applied to Hwaseong watershed. It was run under BASINS (Better Assessment Science for Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources) program, and the model was validated using monitoring data of . The model efficiency of runoff ranged from good to fair in comparison between simulated and observed data, while it was from very good to poor in the water quality parameters. But its reliability and performance were within the expectation considering complexity of the watershed and pollutant sources. The nonpoint source (NPS) loading for T-N and T-P during the monsoon rainy season (June to September) was about 80% of total NPS loading, and runoff volume was also in a similar range. However, NPS loading for BOD () didn`t depend on rainfall because BOD was mostly discharged from point source (more than 70%). And water quality was not necessarily high during the rainy season, and showed a decreasing trend with increasing water flow. BASINS/HSPF was applied to the Hwaseong watershed successfully without difficulty, and it was found that the model could be used conveniently to assess watershed characteristics and to estimate pollutant loading including point and nonpoint sources in watershed scale.

HSPF-Paddy Development for Simulating Pollutant Loadings from Paddy Fields

The Hydrological Simulation Program - FORTRAN (HSPF) was modified to simulate nonpoint pollutant loadings from paddy fields using a field experimental data collected during 2001-2002. The concept of a `dike height` was added in a modified HSPF code, named HSPF-Paddy, to consider the function of retaining water by a weir at the field outlet. The effect of fertilization on the variances of nutrients on the soil surface and shallow soil layer was described mathematically with a Dirac delta function (or first-order kinetics). As confirmed through model verification, the HSPF-Paddy modifications were shown to represent the function of retaining water, varied ponded water, and surface runoff by forced drain during both rainy and non-rainy seasons and reasonably predicted the water balance and nutrients behavior in paddy fields. It is a distributed watershed model which, with the paddy modifications, can now simulate nonpoint pollutant loadings where paddy fields are dominant, and it can be used to evaluate the effects of paddy fields on the water quality at a basin scale, and assess the impacts of proposed BMPs applied to paddy fields.

Development of Up- and Down-flow Constructed Wetland for Advanced Wastewater Treatment in Rural Communities

The feasibility of the up- and down-flow constructed wetland was examined fur rural wastewater treatment in Korea. Many constructed wetland process was suffered from substrate clogging and high plant stresses because of long term operation. The up- and down-flow constructed wetland process used porous granule materials (charcoal pumice : SSR