Spatial and Temporal Variations of Water Quality in the Han River and Its Tributaries, Seoul, Korea, 1993–2002

Abstract

Spatial and temporal variations of eight selected water quality measurements were examined for the 26 stations located in the Han River and its tributaries within the city of Seoul from 1993 to 2002. The eight measurements are water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, suspended solid, total nitrogen and total phosphorus. There is no discernable increase or decrease in water quality measurements in four representative stations. A striking longitudinal variation of all water quality measurements is detected for eight stations along the Han River. Water quality dramatically decline in the middle section of the Han River where the river receives inputs from polluted tributaries. All water quality measurements, except pH, exhibit better conditions in the main river group than its counterpart tributary group. The 26 stations can be grouped into three main clusters; (1) the main river and its tributaries that have relatively good water quality, (2) the tributaries that have medium water quality, and (3) the tributaries nearby industrial sites that are heavily polluted.

Impact of anthropogenic activities on urban stream water quality: a case study in Guangzhou, China

“…In addition, concentrations of BOD 5 in the present study were only lower than those in Han River and its tributaries of Korea (Chang 2005), while concentrations of TN and TP were similar to those in Han River and its tributaries. On the other hand, concentrations of TN were higher than those in Jinshui River (Bu et al 2010), Yangtze River (China) (Müller et al 2008), Gomti River (India) (Singh et al 2005), and Pardo River (Brazil) (Da Silva and Sacomani 2001).…”

“…However, the concentrations of As, Se, Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, and Zn within the urban villages were in the ranges (mean) of 1. , respectively. Generally, COD cr concentrations in the urban streams of Guangzhou were greater than those in rivers of the Pearl River Delta (Fan et al 2010), Jinshui River (Bu et al 2010), Qiantang River (Su et al 2011), Yangtze River (Müller et al 2008, and Songhua River (Wang et al 2013) of China, Gomti River (India) (Singh et al 2005), Fuji River (Japan) (Shrestha and Kazama 2007), Han River and its tributaries (Korea) (Chang 2005), Pisuerga River (Spain) (Vega et al 1998),…”

“…Rapid economic development and population growth have resulted in deterioration of worldwide water quality (Smith 2003;Ghadouani and Coggins 2011;Ahuja 2014). In particular, water quality in urban rivers or streams is under increasing stress because of fast population growth within metropolitan centers (Pekey et al 2004;Chang 2005;Singh et al 2005;Azrina et al 2006;Duha et al 2008;Spring 2011;Huang et al 2012;Furlan et al 2013). In China, rural-to-urban migration and expansion of urban centers have been under way over the last three decades, creating a number of unprecedented urban water quality issues.…”

Application of physicochemical data for water-quality assessment of watercourses in the Gdansk Municipality (South Baltic coast)

“…The value of correlation coefficient equals -0.66 for the pair DO and T, and 0.83 for DO with OS. It can be explained by the fact that OS is calculated based on DO, taking into consideration the values of temperature, atmospheric pressure and water salinity (Chang 2005;Yunus and Nakagoshi 2004). It is though not surprising that the relation between DO and water temperature (T) is inversely proportional; with the increase of temperature the value of DO decreases (correlation -0.66).…”

“…In such case, CA permits to determine whether water quality can be modified with the watercourse flow and allows identification of areas with specific properties of water. Samples collected from one watercourse can be grouped into two-clean and polluted, or three-clean, highly and medium polluted clusters representing similar water properties (Brogueira and Cabeçadas 2006;Chang 2005;Kannel et al 2007;Reghunath et al 2002). Marengo et al (1995) mentions application of CA for samples from Lagoon of Venice collected from various sites and at different seasons of the year.…”