Abstract
Annually, the scale of agricultural areas in Korea were being reduced as the lands were converted to other land uses. While the rate of productivity were either being maintained or increased, the pollution load from these areas were still greater in magnitude. Although the levels of pollutant concentration released in the agricultural watersheds were minimal, the combined quantities mostly from diffuse sources were high. As a consequence, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) in Korea adopted the use of free water surface (FWS) flow constructed wetlands to reduce the pollutant loadings emitted from agricultural watersheds for the improvement of water quality and protection of aquatic ecosystems. In this study, a constructed wetland treating stream water in an agricultural watershed was monitored since April 2009 subsequent to its completion in December 2008. Satisfactory performance was achieved for TSS, BOD and TP with 26%, 28% and 39% pollutant removal rates, respectively. In addition, the effluent water quality was improved and achieved compliance the national water quality criteria. Results of this study can be useful to establish design parameters and employ proper removal techniques of similar natural treatment systems for future implementation in the country.
최근 우리나라 농경지 면적은 해마다 감소하고 있는 추세이나 이러한 농업지역으로부터 발생되는 오염부하량은 오히려 증가하고 있는 실정이다. 농업지역으로부터 발생되는 오염물질 중 대부분은 비점오염원에 의해 배출되며 이는 주로 저농도이면서 넓은 지역에서 대량으로 배출되는 특성을 보인다. 본 연구의 목적은 농업지역 내 비점오염원을 관리하기 위한 방안으로 인공습지를 적용하여 수질정화효율을 분석함으로써 인공습지 적용가능성과 오염물질 제거기작, 설계인자 등을 제공함에 있다. 모니터링 결과를 토대로 수질분석을 실시하였으며 분석 결과, 유입수의 평균 농도 제거율은 TSS가 26 %, BOD가 28 %, TN이 16 %, TP가 39 %로 나타났다. 또한 국내 하천수질기준에 준하여 인공습지 유입수과 유출수의 수질을 비교해 본 결과 대부분의 항목에서 수질등급이 향상되었다.
