Euiam and Paldang Reservoirs have often been facing water quality problems, such as eutrophication, algal blooms and off-flavors by treated wastewater effluent (TWE) in the North-Han and the Han River basins, but little is examined on the direct biological effect of TWE. This study tested algal growth potential (AGP) of four TWEs discharged into Euiam and Paldang Reservoirs to evaluate water fertility in September 2014 and March and September 2015. Test alga was used Anabaena circinalis isolated from Paldang Reservoir. Mean concentration of T-N and T-P in TWEs was 3,956.7 μg N L-1 and 50.8 μg P L-1, and the proportion of NO3-N and PO4-P to the total fraction was 72.1% and 40.8%, respectively. Both N and P were high in TWEs, but much higher N than P concentration indicates strong P-limitation. As a consequence, the maximum AGP was determined by PO4-P concentration (r=0.998, p<0.01). Mean AGP value was 15.4 mg dw L-1 among four effluents indicating its eutrophic condition. Due to the establishment of tertiary (advanced T-P) treatment method in the studied plants recently, P concentration was significantly decreased in TWEs compared to the years prior to 2012. However, P concentration seems to be still high enough to cause eutrophication and algal blooms. Therefore, wastewater treatment to P-free level needs to be considered if effluents are directly discharged into the drinking water resources.

Ground seawater quality was investigated, and the algal growth potential (AGP) tests were performed along the Tongyeong coast to examine the inflow of materials, which is needed for the red tide species Cochlodinium polykrikoides to grow. The study was conducted to determine the mechanism for C. polykrikoidesred tides. Water temperature, salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen (DO) ranged from 16.05 to 20.74°C, 18.20 to 32.11 psu, 6.00 to 7.61, and 3.41 to 7.91 mg/L (41.4– 96.1%), respectively. No seasonal variation was observed in water temperature. The salinity, pH, and DO saturations at most stations were lower than those of coastal seawater at Tongyeong. The NH4 +-N, NO2+3 --N, PO4 3--P concentrations ranged from 0.43 to 16.00μM, 1.50 to 132.38μM, and 1.30 to 6.29μM, respectively; the values at some stations were much higher than observed in Tongyeong coast seawater. Using seawater from station B, C. polykrikoides grew consistently, with a high growth rate, similar to the red tide in nature. This seawater appeared to contain materials needed by C. polykrikoides to grow. Therefore, C. polykrikoides red tides seem to occur wherever the ground sea water contains materials that are needed for its growth.