Abstract
BACKGROUND: Gohyeon Stream is the municipal eco-stream of 7.1km in total length which flows through the downtown area of Gohyeon in Geoje city, rising from the watershed of Mundong Water Fall. Gohyeon district in Geoje city has been a rapid growing area centering in Geoje city and then experienced an rapid increase in population. Large amounts of sewage pollutants have been spewed into Gohyeon Stream from its tributaries, due to the lack of sewer system. Gohyeon Stream is laced with unhealthy levels of fecal coliform (FC). Restoration of water quality in Gohyeon Stream is no less inevitable in behalf of its ecosystem and the citizen. In this study, the water quality of Gohyeon Stream and its tributaries was examined temporally and spatially, and their relationships were comparatively analyzed to give useful basic data applying to a restoration project of the water quality of Gohyeon Stream. METHODS AND RESULTS: The samples ware taken at 20 points in Gohyeon Stream and 19 points in its tributaries during the rainy and dry seasons, respectively, and examined on the parameters of pH, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), suspended solid (SS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN; <TEX>$NH_3$</TEX>-N, <TEX>$NO_3$</TEX>-N, <TEX>$NO_2$</TEX>-N), disolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP; <TEX>$PO_4$</TEX>-P) and FC. The data were analyzed using a comparative analysis and Pearson's correlation analysis among the parameters. During the rainy season, the concentration of SS was high in the upper region of Gohyeon Stream, and the concentrations of COD, DIN and DIP were low in the upper region and high in the middle and lower regions. During the dry season, the concentration of SS was low and the concentrations of COD, DIN, DIP and FC were high in all regions. The Pearson's correlation analyses showed that the relationships between DO and FC, COD and DIP, and DIN and FC during the rainy season as well as between DO and DIN, SS and FC, COD and DIP, and DIN and DIP during the dry season were significant. CONCLUSION: During the rainy season, the upper region of Gohyeon Stream flowed the high level of SS, the middle region the high level of nutrients due to an agricultural run-off, and the lower region the high level of nutrients due to a sewage inflow. During the dry season, the water quality of Gohyeon Stream was directly and sensitively influenced on the inflow of sewage from the tributaries.
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