• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.465-475
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• 2009

The purpose of the study was to evaluate spatial and temporal effects of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) on the water quality of downstreams (Tan Stream, TS; Daemyeong Stream, DS; Gwangju Stream, GS, and Kap Stream, KS) located in four major watersheds along with impact analysis of nutrient enrichments on the WWTPs during 2004~2008. In the four streams, seasonal means of BOD, COD, TN, and TP were significantly (p<0.01) greater in the downstreams ($D_s$) than the upstreams ($U_s$). The removal effect of nutrients (nitrogen, and phosphorus) from the WWTPs was much less than the BOD, indicating a greater nutrient impact on the downstreams. Seasonal dilution of organic matter, based on BOD, during the summer monsoon of July~September was most pronounced in the downstreams of all four watersheds. However, mean TN in the downstreams during the monsoon varied little in all four streams. Regression analysis of TN in the downstreams against TN from the WWTPs showed that in the TS, and DS regression slopes in the upstreams were similar to the slopes of downstream but there was a significant difference in the GS (p<0.001) and KS (p<0.01). Tan-Stream WWTP showed low removal efficiency of BOD and COD concentrations, compared to the nutrients, whereas, two WWTPs of Gwangju and Kap Stream had low removal effects in TN and TP. Regression analysis of TN and BOD in the downstreams showed that they was closely related (p<0.01) with stream water volume only in the GS. Our data analysis suggests that greater treatment efficiencies of phosphorus and nitrogen from the WWTPs may improve the downstream water quality.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.140-144
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• 2016

Owing to the kinetic differences in ammonia oxidation among ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOM), there is no standard set of kinetic values that can be used as a representative set for nitrifying wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) design. As a result, this study clarified a link between the half-saturation constants for ammonia oxidation (Ks) and the dominant ammonia-oxidizing bacterial (AOB) groups in sludge from full-scale WWTPs and laboratory-scale nitrifying reactors. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses revealed that AOB affiliated with the Nitrosomonas oligotropha cluster were the dominant AOM groups in the sludge taken from the low-ammonia-level WWTPs, while AOB associate with the Nitrosomonas europaea cluster comprised the majority of AOM groups in the sludge taken from the high-ammonia-level WWTPs and nitrifying reactors. A respirometric assay demonstrated that the ammonia Ks values for the high-ammonia-level WWTPs and nitrifying reactors were higher than those of the low-ammonia-level plants. Using the Ks values of available AOM cultures as a reference, the Ks values of the analyzed sludge were mainly influenced by the dominant AOB species. These findings implied that.different sets of kinetic values may be required for WWTPs with different dominant AOM species for more accurate WWTP design and operations.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.142-142
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• 2023

Humans inevitably and continuously produce wastewater in daily life worldwide. To decrease the degradation of river water bodies and aquatic ecosystem therein, humans have built systems at different scales to collect, drain, and treat household-produced wastewater. Particularly, municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with centralized controls have played a key role in reducing loads of nutrients in domestic wastewater for the last few decades. Notwithstanding such contributions, impaired rivers regarding water quality and habitat integrity still exist at the whole river basin scale. It is highly attributable to the absence of dilution capacity of receiving streams and/or the accumulation of the pollutant loads along flow paths. To improve the perspective for individual WWTPs assessment, the first crucial step is to achieve systematic understanding on spatial distribution characteristics of all WWTPs together in a given river basin. By taking the initiative, our former study showed spatial hierarchical distributions of WWTPs in three large urbanized river basins in Germany. In this study, we uncover how municipal WWTPs in the contiguous United States are distributed along river networks in a give river basin. The extended spatial scope allows to deal with wide ranges in geomorphological attributes, hydro-climatic conditions, and socio-economic status. Furthermore, we identify the relation of the findings with multiple factors related to human activities, such as the spatial distribution of human settlements, the degree of economy development, and the fraction of communities served by WWTPs. Generalizable patterns found in this study are expected to contribute to establishing viable management plans for recent water-environmental challenges caused by WWTP-discharges to river water bodies.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.284-290
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• 2016

Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology can be used to assess impacts on the environment that might be generated during treatment of wastewater and sludge treatment. In this work, LCA methodology was suggested to evaluate monthly environmental impact of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Two field scale WWTPs, A2/O process and conventional activated sludge process (CAS), were selected as target plants and the operational data were collected from those plants. As the function units, the unit volume of treated wastewater of $1m^3$ and 1 kg T-N eq. removed were selected. The environmental effect of target WWTPs operation were assessed as impact categories such as global warming potential, eutrophication potential, and so on. From monthly profiles of each index, it was shown that the environmental impact of WWTPs has seasonal patterns influenced by the influent flow rate variation causing higher impacts in winter than summer. This is due to the fact that there were no significant increase in the electricity consumption and chemical usage during the summer while the treated volume of wastewater was increased.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.133-138
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• 2011

This paper presents energy self-sufficiency simulated in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by adopting solar energy production systems that were simulated by varying azimuth and super-hydrophilic coating on the surface of photovoltaic (PV). Relative to the national average energy consumption in WWTPs, the employment of 100 kW PV system was simulated to achieve 2.75% of energy self-sufficiency. The simulated results suggested that the installation of PVs toward South or Southwest would produce the highest energy self-sufficiency in WWTPs. When super-hydrophilic coating was employed in the conventional PV, 5% of additional solar energy production was achievable as compared to uncoated conventional PV. When 100 kW of PV system was installed in a future test-bed site, Kihyeung Respia WWTP located in Yongin, South Korea, the energy self-sufficiency by solar power was simulated to be 1.77%. The simulated solar power production by azimuth and super-hydrophilic coating will be useful reference for practitioners in designing the solar PV systems in the WWTPs.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.140-148
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• 2017

An important factor in determining the design and treatment efficiency of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is the quantity and quality of influent. These detailed and accurate information is essential for process control, diagnosis and operation, as well as the basis in designing the plant, selecting the process and determining the optimal capacity of each bioreactor. Probabilistic models are used to predict the wastewater quantity and quality of WWTPs, which are widely used to improve the design and operation of WWTPs. In this study, the optimal probability distribution of time series influent data was derived for predicting water quantity and quality, and wastewater influent data were generated using the Monte Carlo simulation analysis. In addition, we estimated various alternatives for the improvement of bioreactor operations based on present operation condition using the generated influent data and activated sludge model, and suggested the alternative that can operate the most effectively. Thus, the influent quantity and quality are highly correlated with the actual operation data, so that the actual WWTPs influent characteristics were well reproduced. Using this will improve the operating conditions of WWTPs, and a proposed improvement plan for the current TMS (Tele Monitoring System) effluent quality standards can be made.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.173-183
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• 2014

A comprehensive mathematical model was developed for this study to estimate on-site and off-site GHG emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The model was applied to three different hybrid WWTPs (S-WWTP, J-WWTP, and T-WWTP) including anaerobic, anoxic, and aerobic process, located in Seoul City, South Korea. Overall on-site and off-site GHG emissions from S-WWTP, J-WWTP, and T-WWTP were $305,253kgCO_2e/d$, $282,682kgCO_2e/d$, and $117,942kgCO_2e/d$, respectively. WWTP treating higher amounts of wastewater produced more on-site and off-site GHG emissions. On average, the percentage contribution of on-site and off-site emissions was 3.03% and 96.97%. The highest amount of on-site GHG emissions was generated from anoxic process and the primary on-site GHG was nitrous oxide ($N_2O$). Off-site GHG emissions related to electricity consumption for unit operation was much higher than that related to production of chemicals for on-site usage. Recovery and reuse of biogas significantly reduced the total GHG emissions from WWTPs. The results obtained from this study can provide basic knowledge to understand the source and amount of GHG emissions from WWTPs and strategies to establish lower GHG emitting WWTPs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1128-1133
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• 2010

The diversity and abundance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in activated sludge were compared using PCR-DGGE and real-time PCR assays. Activated sludge samples were collected from five different types of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) mainly treating textile, paper, food, and livestock wastewater or domestic sewage. The composition of total bacteria determined by PCR-DGGE was highly diverse between the samples, whereas the community of AOB was similar across all the investigated activated sludge. Total bacterial numbers and AOB numbers in the aerated mixed liquor were in the range of $1.8{\times}10^{10}$ to $3.8{\times}10^{12}$ and $1.7{\times}10^6$ to $2.7{\times}10^{10}$ copies/l, respectively. Activated sludge from livestock, textile, and sewage treating WWTPs contained relatively high amoA gene copies (more than $10^5$ copies/l), whereas activated sludge from food and paper WWTPs revealed a low number of the amoA gene (less than $10^3$ copies/l). The value of the amoA gene copy effectively showed the difference in composition of bacteria in different activated sludge samples and this was better than the measurement with the AOB 16S rRNA or total 16S rRNA gene. These results suggest that the quantification of the amoA gene can help monitor AOB and ammonia oxidation in WWTPs.

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.291-296
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• 2011

This paper presents energy self-sufficiency simulated in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by adopting solar energy production systems that vary with installation conditions. Relative to the national average energy consumption in WWTPs, the employment of 100 kW photovoltaics (PVs) was simulated to achieve 2.75% of energy self-sufficiency. The simulated results suggested that the installation of PVs toward South or South west would produce the highest energy self-sufficiency in WWTPs. When super-hydrophilic coating was employed in the conventional PVs, 5% of additional solar energy production was achievable as compared to uncoated conventional PVs. When 100 kW of PVs were installed in a future test-bed site, Kihyeung Respida located in Yougin, Sourth Korea, the energy self-sufficiency by solar energy was simulated to be 1.77% (2010). The simulated energy self-sufficiency by azimuth(direction) will be useful reference for practitioners in designing the solar PV systems in the WWTPs.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.205-225
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• 2021

Due to the large-scale production and use of synthetic chemicals in industralized countries, various chemicals are found in the aquatic environment, which are often termed as micropollutants. Effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been identified as one of the major sources of these micropollutants. In this article, the current status of occurrence and removal of micropollutants in WWTPs and their management policies and options in domestic and foregin countries were critically reviewed. A large number of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and industrial chemicals are found in WWTPs' influent, and are only partially removed by current biological wastewater treatment processes. As a result, some micropollutants are present in WWTPs' effluents, which can negatively affect receiving water quality or drinking water source. To better understand and assess the potential risk of micropollutants, a systematic monitoring framework including advanced analytical tools such as high resolution mass spectrometry and bioanalytical methods is needed. Some Western European countries are taking proactive approach to controlling the micropollutants by upgrading WWTP with enahnced effluent treatment processes. While this enahnced WWTP effluent treatment appears to be a viable option for controlling micropollutant, its implementation requires careful consideration of the technical, economical, political, and cultural issues of all stakeholders.