Thermal Effluent Effects of Domestic Sewage and Industrial Wastewater on the Water Quality of Three Small Streams (Eung, Chiljang and Buso) during the Winter Season, Korea
The sewage and wastewater (SAW) are a well-known major source of eutrophication and greentide in freshwaters and also a potential source of thermal pollution; however, there were few approaches to thermal effluent of SAW in Korea. This study was performed to understand the behavioral dynamics of the thermal effluents and their effects on the water quality of the connected streams during winter season, considering domestic sewage, industrial wastewater and hot spring wastewater from December 2015 to February 2016. Sampling stations were selected the upstream, the outlet of SAW, and the downstream in each connected stream, and the water temperature change was monitored toward the downstream from the discharging point of SAW. The temperature effect and its range of SAW on the stream were dependent not only on the effluent temperature and quantity but also on the local air temperature, water temperature and stream discharge. The SAW effects on the stream water temperature were observed with temperature increase by 2.1~5.8℃ in the range of 1.0 to 5.5 km downstream. Temperature effect was the greatest in the hot spring wastewater despite of small amount of effluent. The SAW was not only related to temperature but also to the increase of organic matter and nutrients in the connected stream. The industrial wastewater effluent was discharged with high concentration of nitrogen, while the hot spring wastewater was high in both phosphorus and nitrogen. The difference between these cases was due to with and without chemical T-P treatment in the industrial and the hot spring wastewater, respectively. The chlorophyll-a content of the attached algae was high at the outlet of SAW and the downstream reach, mostly in eutrophic level. These ecological results were presumably due to the high water temperature and phosphorus concentration in the stream brought by the thermal effluents of SAW. These results suggest that high temperature of the SAW needs to be emphasized when evaluating its effects on the stream water quality (water temperature, fertility) through a systematized spatial and temporal investigation.