Abstract
While various aspects affect river water quality, reduction of water flow rate during dry seasons is one of the most significant factors causing severe water pollution in river water environment. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of applying a physicochemical method (sand filtration + ozonation) for improving river water quality within a short period. The parameters analyzed and assessed were $COD_{cr}$, BOD, SS and color. The source river water had a severe pollution level showing COD 8.8~17.2 mg/L (ave. 11.9 mg/L), BOD 4.8~13.3 mg/L (ave. 8.3 mg/L), SS 9.0~22.1 mg/L (ave. 12.8 mg/L) and color 34.4~77.1 degree (ave. 56.5 degree) during the experimental periods. The variation trends showed a relatively low correlation between BOD and COD and between color and COD, while SS showed very low correlation with other parameters. The combined process of sand filtration and ozonation showed averaged removal efficiency of COD 37.2%, BOD 48.4%, SS 60.1% and colority 45.1%, respectively. The marked change of BOD level from 8.3 mg/L to 4.3 mg/L under the experimental conditions in this study implied the improvement of class V to class III set by the river water quality standard in Korea.