• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.306-313
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• 2009

In the Upo wetland, physico-chemical factors were observed during the period from March 2005 to December 2007 on a monthly basis. In the Upo wetland, water temperatures ranged $3.4{\sim}34.5^{\circ}C$. Conductivities were in the range of 133~806 ${\mu}S\;cm^{-1}$, which showed about 140 ${\mu}S\;cm^{-1}$ below in comparison with the precedent studies. The pH levels were between 6.7~9.1 with lower level in summertime. The dissolved oxygens were between 0.06~18.23 mg $L^{-1}$. COD ranged 4.9~20.8 mg $L^{-1}$, and showed a tendency to decrease every year. Nitrogen nutrients such as nitrate nitrogen ($NO_3-N$), ammonia nitrogen ($NH_3-N$) and total nitrogen (T-P) showed that they were generally decreased in comparison with those in the precedent studies. However the total nitrogen (T-N) is still considerably higher than the standard concentration level of eutrophication and algal blooming. Phosphate phosphorus ($PO_4-P$) and total phosphorus (T-P) were also shown as to be reduced considerably comparing with the values in the precedent studies. However, It was found out that total phosphorus (T-P) was dissolved over the criteria concentration of eutrophication. The average of TN/TP ratio was 18 in the Upo wetland, which proved that phosphorus was the limiting factor to the growth of phytoplankton in the Upo wetland. The chl-$\alpha$ was the highest in wintertime and the lowest in summertime, and especially in 2006 summer when the cyanobacterial bloom developed, it showed extremely high concentration.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.345-350
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• 2015

The toxicity of red mud (RM) pellets for water purification was evaluated using Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Daphnia magna in a lab-scale experiment. According to the algal growth inhibition test, both specific growth rates and relative growth rates of P. subcapitata decreased, and the growth inhibition rates increased ($R^2=0.97$, p<0.001) as the concentration of RM pellets in the aqueous solution increased (>1.6 g/L). Also, based on the acute toxicity evaluation test on D. magna, toxic unit (TU) values ranged between 0.00 and 2.83, and increased with an increase in the concentration of RM pellets in the aqueous solution. A correlation analysis indicated that the pH of RM pellets was statistically correlated with TU values ($R^2=0.77$, p=0.02). The environmental implication from this study is that the concentration of RM pellets in an aqueous solution needs to be lower than 4.4 g/L to keep the maximum permissible TU value less than 1.0.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.135-146
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• 2020

This study was aimed to investigate the possibility of using raw and anaerobically-digested piggery wastewater as culture media for a green microalga Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris). Due to high concentration of ammonia and dark color, the microalga did not grow well in this wastewater. In order to solve this problem, air stripping and NaOCl-treatment were applied to reduce the concentration of NH₃-N and the color intensity from the wastewater. Algal growth was monitored in terms of specific growth rate, biomass productivity, and nutrient removal efficiency. As a result, C. vulgaris grew without any sign of inhibition in air-stripped and 10-folds diluted anaerobically-digested piggery wastewater with enhanced biomass productivity of 0.57 g/L·d and nutrient removal of 98.7-99.8% for NH₃-N and 41.0-62.5% for total phosphorus. However, NaOCl-treatment showed no significant effect on growth of C. vulgaris, although dark color was removed greatly. Interestingly, despite that the soluble organic concentration after air stripping was still high, the biomass productivity was 4.4 times higher than BG-11. Moreover, air stripping was identically effective for raw piggery wastewater as for anaerobic digestate. Therefore, it was concluded that air stripping was a very effective method for culturing microalgae and removing nutrients from raw and anaerobically-digested piggery wastewaters.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2006

Conventional coagulation is still the main treatment process for algae removal in water treatment. The coagulation efficiency can be significantly improved by the preoxidation of algae-containing water. Jar test was conducted to determine the optimal condition for the removal of diatoms, especially Cyclotella sp. by preoxidation and the subsequent coagulation. The effects of various concentration of PAC (Polyaluminum chloride) on coagulation with and without preoxidation using chlorine or potassium permanganate at different pHs (7.7 and 9.0) were evaluated. At pH 7.7, preoxidation with 2ppm $Cl_2$ followed by coagulation with 7.5 ppm PAC coagulant could reduce Cyclotella sp. concentration by 86%. At pH 9.0, preoxidation with 1 mg $KMnO_4/L$ followed by coagulation with 12.5 ppm PAC coagulant reduced Cyclotella sp. concentration by 85%. Non-linear regression was applied to determine the optimal condition. At pH 7.7 and 9.0, R was over 0.9, respectively. The pH of algal blooming water is over 9.0. Algae (diatom; Cyelotella sp.) can be controlled in the following ways: preoxidation with 1 mg $KMnO_4/L$ followed by coagulation with 12.5 ppm PAC coagulant can remove 80% algae from water. If water pH is adjusted to 7.7, it was expected that less amount of coagulant (7.5 or 10 mg PAC /L) after preoxidation ($Cl_2$ 2 ppm or $KMnO_4$ 0.33, 1 ppm) would be needed to achieve similar level of algae removal. The oxidation with 0.33ppm $KMnO_4$ followed by coagulation with 7.5 ppm PAC coagulant was preferable due to cost-effectiveness of treatment condition and color problem after treatment.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.1 s.106
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• pp.36-46
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• 2004

We evaluated the effect of limiting nutrients and N/P ratio on the growth of phytoplankton in a small eutrophic reservoir from November 2002 to December 2003. Nutrient limitation was investigated seasonally using nutrient enrichment bioassay (NEB). DIN/DTP and TN/TP ratio (by weight) of the reservoir during the study period ranged 17${\sim}$187 and 13${\sim}$60, respectively. Most of nitrogen in the reservoir account for $NO_3$-N, but sharp increase of ammonia was evident during the spring season. Seasonal variation of dissolved inorganic phosphorus concentration was relatively small. DTP ranged 26.5${\sim}$10.1 ${\mu}g\;P\;L^{-1}$, and the highest and lowest concentration was observed in August and December, respectively. Chlorophyll a concentration ranged 28.8${\sim}$109.7 ${\mu}g\;L^{-1}$, and its temporal variation was similar to that of cell density of phytoplankton. Dominant phytoplankton species were Bacillariphyceae (Melosira varians) and Chlorophyceae (Dictyosphaerium puchellum) in Spring (March${\sim}$April). Cyanophyceae, such as Osillatoria spp., Microcystis spp., Aphanizomenon sp. dominated from May to the freezing time. TN/TP ratio ranged from 46 to 13 (Avg. 27${\pm}$6) from June to December when cyanobacteria (Microcystis spp.) dominated. p limitation for algal growth measured in all NEB experiments (17cases), while N limitation occurred in 8 out of 17 cases. The growth rates of phytoplankton slightly increased with decreasing of DIN/DTP ratio. Evident increase was observed in the N/P ratio of > 30, and it was sustained with DTP increase until 50 ${\mu}g\;P\;L^{-1}$. Under the same N/P mass ratio with the different N concentrations (0.07, 0.7and 3.5 mg N $L^{-1}$), Microcystis spp. showed the highest growth rate in the N/P ratio of< 1 with nitrogen concentration of 3.5 mg N $L^{-1}$). The responses of phytoplankton growth to phosphate addition were clearly greater with increase of N concentration. These results indicate that the higher nitrogen concentration in the water likely induce the stronger P-limitation on the phytoplankton growth, while nitrogen deficiency is not likely the case of nutrient limitation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.397-409
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• 2014

Algal problem in drinking water treatment is being gradually increased by causing deterioration of water supplies therefore, especially taste and odor compounds such as geosmin and 2-MIB occur mainly aesthetic problem by its unpleasant effects resulting in the subsequent onset of complaints from drinking water consumer. Recently, geosmin and 2-MIB are detected frequently at abnormally high concentration level. However, conventional water treatment without advanced water treatment processes such as adsorption and oxidation process, cannot remove these two compounds efficiently. Moreover, it is known that the advanced treatment processes i.e. adsorption and oxidation have also several limits to the removal of geosmin and 2-MIB. Therefore, the purpose of this study was not only to evaluate full scale nanofiltration membrane system with $300m^3/day$ of permeate capacity and 90% of recovery on the removal of geosmin and 2-MIB in spiked natural raw water sources at high feed concentration with a range of approximately 500 to 2,500 ng/L, but also to observe rejection property of the compounds within multi stage NF membrane system. Rejection rate of geosmin and 2-MIB by NF membrane process was 96% that is 4% of passage regardless of the feed water concentration which indicates NF membrane system with an operational values suggested in this research can be employed in drinking water treatment plant to control geosmin and 2-MIB of high concentration. But, according to results of regression analysis in this study it is recommended that feed water concentration of geosmin and 2-MIB would not exceed 220 and 300 ng/L respectively which is not to be perceived in drinking tap water. Also it suggests that the removal rate might be depended on an operating conditions such as feed water characteristics and membrane flux. When each stage of NF membrane system was evaluated relatively higher removal rate was observed at the conditions that is lower flux, higher DOC and TDS, i.e., $2^{nd}$ stage NF membrane systems, possibly due to an interaction mechanisms between compounds and cake layer on the membrane surfaces.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.276-283
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• 2000

This study was carried out to investigate distribution of epilithic algal and chemical contents of irrigation water influencing in the Seomjin River from March to October in 1996 and 1997. In the water quality of the Seomjin River, the monthly average contents of $NH^+\;_4-N,\;SO_4\;^{2-}$ and $Cl^-$ showed the lowest peak in July and August while that of $NO_3-N$ showed the highest peak in June. The water quality of the Seomjin River was deteriorated by inflow of Yo-cheon and Sosi-cheon in the middle stream. The concentration of anions and cations of the Seomjin River was $Cl^->SO_4\;^{2-}>NO_3\;^->PO_4\;^{3-}\;and\;Ca^{2+}>Na^+>Mg^{2+}>K^+>NH_4\;^+$, respectively. The epilithic algal community identified 339 taxa consisting of 7 forma, 42 varieties and 290 species in 6 classes. In species composition, green algae and diatoms were heavily dominated which were evaluated 50.4% and 31.3% of total classification, respectively. In seasonal distribution, 219 species presented in summer but, 147 species were in winter. In this study, dominant species were Cocconeis placentula var. euglypta and Cosmarium furcatospermum in spering. Cyclotella meneghinasa and Synedra ulna, Scenedesmus ecornis in summer. Melosira varians, Achnathes minutissima in autumn and Gomphonema parvulum in winter were dominated. Finally, the dominant indices in this study have ranged 0.10-0.43.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.445-456
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• 2001

In the 1990s, Cochlodinium polykikoides red tide has been annually occurred in the southern coast of Korea and caused the mass damage to the fisheries with a huge amount of economic loss. The present study was done to establish the biological foundation for the elucidation of the mechanism of C. polykikoiaes red tide. The growth response of C. polykikoides to physico-chemical factors such as temperature, salinity, pH, and light intensity were examined using axenic cultures to evaluate the relative importance of these factors on the dynamics of natural populations, It was found that the highest growth conditions were $25^{\circ}C,\;40\%_{\circ}$, pH 7.5, and 7,500 lux, respectively. The tolerable salinity range of growth was relatively wide at an optimum temperature and was reduced to a much narrower range at a sub-optimum temperature. These findings indicate that C. polykikoides is an eurythermal and euryhaline organism. The organism demanded higher light intensity and oceanic pH narrow in its growth. C. polykikoides utilize inorganic nutrients, such as nitrate and ammonium as N, and phosphate as P. The nutritional requirements of C. polykikoides were $40{\mu}M$ for nitrate, $50{\mu}M$ for ammonium, and $5{\mu}M$ for phosphate. The half saturation constant (Ks) for growth was $2.10{\mu}M$ for nitrate, $1.03{\mu}M$ for ammonium, and $0.57{\mu}M$ for phosphate. These values were comparatively smaller than those of other dinoflagellates reported previously. We confirmed that the organism is characterized as an eutrophic species. However, ammonium Ks value is smaller than that of other eutrophic species, This result indicates that C. polykikoides red tide may outbreak in the waters which eutrophication is in progress rather than eutrophicated waters. C. polykikoides preferred ammonium better than nitrate as a nitrogen source when in a growth stage, Therefore, our results indicate that ammonium is more important nutrient on the growth of the organism in comparison with other inorganic nutrients and C. polykikoides red tide is related with the increased ammonium concentration in the coastal waters.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.31-41
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• 2011

To optimize the natural chemical agents against nuisance phytoplankton, we examined algal removal activity (ABA) of Plant-Mineral Composite (PMC), which already developed by our teams (Kim et al., 2010), on various conditions. The PMC are consisted of extracted-mixtures with indigenous plants (Camellia sinensis, Quercusacutissima and Castanea crenata) and minerals (Loess, Quartz porphyry, and natural zeolite), and characterized by coagulation and floating of low-density suspended solids. A simple extraction process was adopted, such as drying and grinding of raw material, water-extraction by high temperature-sonication and filtering. All tests were performed in 3 L plastic chambers varying conditions; six different concentrations ($0{\sim}1.0\;mL\;L^{-1}$), six light intensities ($8{\sim}1,400\;{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$), three temperatures ($10{\sim}30^{\circ}C$), four pHs (7~10), five water depths (10~50 cm), and three different waters dominated by cyanobacteria, diatom, and green algae, respectively. Results indicate that the highest ABA of PMC was seen at $0.05\;mL\;L^{-1}$ in treatment concentrations, where showed a reduction of more than 80% of control phytoplankton biomass, while $1,400\;{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$ in light intensity (>90%), $20{\sim}30^{\circ}C$ temperature (>60%), 7~9 in pH (>90%), below 50 cm in water depth (>90%), and cyanobacterial dominating waters (>80%), respectively. Over the test, ABA of PMC were more obvious on the algal biomass (chlorophyll-${\alpha}$) than suspended solids, suggesting a selectivity of PMC to particle size or natures. These results suggest that PMC agents can play an important role as natural agents to remove the nuisant algal aggregates or seston of eutrophic lake, where occur cyanobacterial bloom in a shallow shore of lake during warm season.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.529-541
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• 1999

In order to elucidate characteristics of water quality, investigation of monthly dynamics of environmental factors and algal populations at major four stations of the mid and lower part in Taechong Reservoir was performed from June 1998 to June 1999. Water temperature, DO and pH were ranged 5.3~27.7$^{\circ}C$, 6.2~13.8 mgO$_2$/1 and 6.4~9.5, respectively. Those were varying as the season changes. Among inorganic nitrogen nutrients, NH$_4$was ranged from 5.5% to 7.2% of NO$_3$and NO$_3$was almost same through the seasons except summer in which it was low. SRP and SRSi were increased in summer when the blue-green algae became dominant. Those were decreased as the cell density of diatom increased when the water temperature dropped. Therefore SRSi was considered to be another important nutrient factor contributing to the increment of biomass of freshwater algae as well as SRP. Average chi-$\alpha$ concentration ranged from s to 12 $\mu$g/1 and in the lower part or the reservoir, the lowest was found. Moreover, there were remarkable increment in summer when TN/TP ratio were decreasing from relationships between TN/TP ratio and chi-$\alpha$ concentration. Annual mean ratio of TN/TP ratio was relatively high as the value was 110, which was relatively high, and it showed that P is the dominant factor in the algal growth. The dynamics of phytoplankton were simply dominated by a few species seasonally. In summer, blue -green algae such as Anabaena, Microcystis and Oscillatoria were dominant and algal bloom of blue -green began from early summer, sustained to late autumn. The average standing crops of A. spiroides v. crassa, M. aeruginosa and O. limosa were ranged 0.3~2.0$\times$10$^4$cells/ml, 6.4$\times$10$^2$~1.0$\times$10$^4$cells/ml and 4.6$\times$10$^3$~1.6$\times$10$^4$cells/ml, respectively. In winter, diatom Stephanodiscus was considered to be an important species whose average standing crops of Stephunodiscus was 4.9$\times$10$^2$cells/ml from November to April of the next year and the highest was 1.3$\times$10$^3$cells/ml in January.