• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.637-642
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• 2005

The objective of this study is to evaluate design parameters of free water surface constructed wetland for the reduction of agricultural nonpoint source pollution. From literature review, the key design parameters were selected as influent concentration, influent water volume, hydraulic retention time and wetland system arrangement. The design value for each parameter was established after pilot study. Full-scale constructed wetland on the basis of the designed values was constructed to evaluate those reasonableness. The results of this study showed that the designed values for free water surface constructed wetland were appropriate for the reduction of agricultural nonpoint source pollution.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2019

This study assessed the contribution of emergent vegetation (Phragmites australis, Typha latifolia, and Nelumbo nucifera) to the submerged surface area, the amount of biofilms attached to the submerged portions of the plants, and the treatment performance of a free water surface (FWS) constructed wetland. Results showed that a 1% increase ($31m^2$) in the vegetative area resulted in an increase of $220m^2$ of submerged surface area, and 0.48 kg Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS) of attached biofilm. As the vegetation coverage increased, effluent organic matter and total Kjeldahl nitrogen decreased. Conversely, a higher nitrate concentration was found in the effluent as a result of increased nitrification and incomplete denitrification, which was limited by the availability of a carbon source. In addition, a larger vegetation coverage resulted in a higher phosphorus in the effluent, most likely released from senescent biofilms and sediments, which resulted from the partial suppression of algal growth. Based on the results, it was recommended that constructed wetlands should be operated with a vegetation coverage of just under 50% to maximize pollutant removal.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.781-788
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• 2010

A pilot study was performed to examine the feasibility of multiple stage of constructed wetland (CW) for nutrient removal. The system is composed of six wetland cells connected with water-ways. The hydraulic of wetland cells is designed as free water surface flow. The treatment capacity was $25m^3d^{-1}$ at HRT of about one day for each cell. The magnitude of nutrient removal was related with the length of wetlands and plant density. Total N and P removal rates were 1353 and $246mg\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$ respectively. The pilot-scale reactor was model as continuous flow system containing contribution of CSTR and PFR typed-reactors. The $k-C^*$ model equation was applied to predict N and P reduction. The result indicated the equation was well guided to estimate reduction of $NO_3-N$ and $PO_4-P$.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.6-11
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• 2005

A prototype surface flow constructed wetland was built in the upstream area of reclaimed tidal lands to improve the water quality of Lake Sihwa by treating severely polluted stream water. In this study, a tracer test using rhodamine-WT was performed to investigate the flow characteristics and to quantify the observed hydraulic residence time (HRT) for a high-lying cell in the Banwol wetland of the Sihwa constructed wetland. The tracer test indicated that even if flow was mainly observed in the open water area of the Banwol wetland, water flowed continuously in the vegetative area and there was no dead zone. The calculated HRT (51.3 hrs), calculated by dividing the wetland volume by the wetland inflow, exceeded the observed HRT (38.7 hrs), since the short-circuiting of flux resulting from irregular topography and vegetation was not reflected in the calculated HRT. The exit tracer concentration curves were reproduced well by both the plug flow with dispersion and tanks-in-series models, indicating that the performance of the Banwol wetland can be estimated accurately using these models.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.481-488
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• 2011

Various development activities have lead to the destruction of the ecosystem such as natural wetlands. In order to protect these natural wetlands, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) in Korea enacted the Wetland Conservation Act in 1999 and designated protected areas for wetland conservation. The MOE adapted the use of Best Management Practices (BMP) such as retention ponds and constructed wetlands to treat the polluted water before entering the water system. One of these projects was a free-water surface flow (FWS) constructed wetland built as a secondary treatment unit for piggery wastewater effluent coming from a livestock wastewater treatment facility. Water quality monitoring for the constructed wetland was conducted during rainfall events. The results showed that the average removal efficiencies of TSS, BOD, TN, TP were 86, 60, 45, 70%, respectively. It was observed that the removal efficiency of particulate matter and phosphorus was high compared to nitrogen. Therefore, a longer hydraulic retention time was needed in order to improve the treatment efficiency of nitrogen. The results of this study can contribute to the wetland design, operation and maintenance of constructed wetlands.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.41-48
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• 2003

Nitrogen removal rate and emergent plant growth were investigated of a free-water-surface constructed treatment wetland system, whose dimensions were 31m in length and 12m in width. The system was constructed on floodplain in the Kwangju Stream from May to June 2001. Cattails(Typha angustifolia) were transplanted from natural wetlands and their stems were cut at about 40cm height from their bottom ends. Water of the Kwangju Stream were funneled into the system by gravity flow and its treated effluent was discharged back into the stream. The average height of the cattail stems was 45.2cm in July 2001 and 186cm in October 2001. The number of stems averaged 22 stems/$m^2$ in July 2001 and 52 stems/$m^2$ in September 2001. Volume and water quality of inflow and outflow were analyzed from July 2001 through December 2001. Inflow and outflow averaged 40.01 and 39.55 $m^3$/day, respectively. Hydraulic detention time was about 1.5 days. Average nitrogen uptake by cattails was 69.31 $N\;mg\;m^{-2}\;day^{-1}$. Removal rate of $NO_3-N$, $NH_3-N$ and T-N averaged 195.58, 53.65 and 628.44 $mg\;m^{-2}\;day^{-1}$, respectively. The average removal rate of T-N was about 39%.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.390-396
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• 2018

This study investigated the transformation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in a free-water surface flow constructed wetland. Pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) coupled with preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (prep-HPLC) was used to analyze the compositions of biopolymers (polysaccharides, amino sugars, proteins, polyhydroxy aromatics, lipids and lignin) in DOM according to the molecular size at three sampling points of the water flow: inflow, midflow, and outflow. The prep-HPLC results verified the decomposition of DOM through the decrease in the number of peaks from three to one in the chromatograms of the sampling points. The Py-GC/MS results for the degradable peaks indicated that biopolymers relating to polysaccharides and proteins gradually biodegraded with the water flow. On the other hand, the recalcitrant organic fraction (the remaining peak) in the outflow showed a relatively high concentration of aromatic compounds. Therefore, the ecological processes in the constructed wetland caused DOM to become more aromatic and homogeneous. This indicated that the constructed wetland can be an effective buffer area for releasing biochemically stable DOM, which has less influence on biological water quality indicators, e.g., biochemical oxygen demand, into an aquatic ecosystem.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.122-130
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• 2007

This study was conducted to evaluate water treatment characteristics according to vegetated wetland(V) and open water(O) arrangements in free water surface constructed wetland. Three pilot-scale wetlands, V-V, O-V and V-O, were built and operated. $BOD_5$ was a slightly reduced at all the arrangements because the influent concentration was so low as background concentration of constructed wetlands. While T-N and T-P removal efficiency showed higher than 50% for all cases. The O-V arrangement showed the highest removal efficiency: 20% for $BOD_5$, 56% for SS, 59% for T-N and 72% for T-P. Effluent concentration of the O-V were significantly low compared with those from the V-O. O-V arrangement would be beneficial in the light of pollutant removal efficiency as well as construction cost.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.94-101
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• 2012

The performance data for eight years from a free-surface-flow constructed wetland system receiving agricultural tailwater were used to analyze denitrification rate and nitrogen treatment characteristics according to season and wetland design. Seasonal difference between growing season (March~November) and winter season (December~February) was shown in the concentration of all nitrogen species. Seasonal nitrogen treatment has similar trend with temperature and measured denitrification rate. The highest denitrification rate was measured in July, but treatment efficiency was most higher in May and June. Nitrogen absorption of vegetation could affect to these wetland performances, therefore dense population of wetland vegetation might be helpful. According to design of wetland, at least 25~50 m of wetland length was needed to decrease effluent T-N concentration to background concentration in growing season. In winter season, wetland needed much longer distance to reduce T-N concentration. Mass removal rate was continuously high through whole year because runoff coefficient was low in winter season. Applicability of constructed wetland was observed for the total maximum daily load that control T-N load.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.120-129
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• 2008

Removal rate of $NO_3-N$ and TN in a free water surface wetland system with litter layer on its bottom was compared with that without one. The system was established on floodplain in the down reach of the Gwangju Stream in 2001. Its dimensions were 31 meters in length and 12 meters in width. Water of the stream was funneled into it and its effluent was discharged back into the channel. Average litter layer of 9.6 cm was formed on its bottom in 2007. The layer and above-ground parts of reeds and cattails on the system were eliminated in Spring 2008. Volumes and water quality of inflow and outflow of the system were analyzed from May to November in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Inflow into the system both in 2007 and 2008 averaged approximately $40m^3/day$ and hydraulic residence time both in 2007 and 2008 was about 1.5 days. Average influent $NO_3-N$ concentration in 2007 and 2008 was 2.16 and 2.05 mg/L, respectively and influent TN concentration in 2007 and 2008 averaged 3.98 and 3.89 mg/L, respectively. With a 0.05 significance level, effluent temperatures, influent concentrations of $NO_3-N$ and TN, and stem numbers per square meter and height of the emergent plants showed no difference between the system with litter layer and without one. $NO_3-N$ removal in the system with litter layer and without it averaged 55.59 and 46.06%, respectively and TN retention averaged 57.24 and 48.97%, respectively. Both $NO_3-N$ and TN abatement rates in the system with litter layer were significantly high (p < 0.001) when compared with those without one. The wetland system having litter layer on its bottom was more efficient for $NO_3-N$ and TN retention than that without one.