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Comprehensive monitoring of drinking well water quality in Seoul metropolitan city, Korea

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Abstract

In this research, the quality of drinking well waters from 14 districts around Seoul metropolitan city, Korea was assessed by measuring a number of parameters with established guideline (e.g., arsenic, fluoride, nitrate nitrogen, benzene, 1,2-dichloroethene, dichloromethane, copper, and lead) and without such criteria (e.g., hardness, chloride ion, sulfate ion, ammonia nitrogen, aluminum, iron, manganese, and zinc). Physical parameters such as evaporation residue (or total dissolved solids) and turbidity were also measured. The importance of each parameter in well waters was examined in terms of the magnitude and exceedance frequency of guideline values established by international (and national) health agencies. The results of this study indicate that among the eight parameters with well-established guidelines (e.g., WHO), arsenic and lead (guideline value of 0.01 mg L−1 for both) recorded the highest exceedance frequency of 18 and 16 well samples ranging in 0.06–136 and 2–9 mg L−1, respectively. As such, a number of water quality parameters measured from many well waters in this urban area were in critical levels which require immediate attention for treatment and continuous monitoring.

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Acknowledgment

This study was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (No. 2010-0007876).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environment and Energy, Sejong University, Seoul, 143-747, South Korea

    Ki-Hyun Kim, Janice P. Susaya & Jin Hur

  2. Seoul Metropolitan Institute of Public Health and Environment, Seoul, 137-734, South Korea

    Chan Goo Park & Jung-Hoon Uhm

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  1. Ki-Hyun Kim
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  2. Janice P. Susaya
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  4. Jung-Hoon Uhm
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  5. Jin Hur
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Correspondence to Ki-Hyun Kim.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 7 Basic statistics for each water quality parameter measured in selected wells of the ten major districts in Seoul, Korea from years 2008 to 2011 (yearly data)
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Kim, KH., Susaya, J.P., Park, C.G. et al. Comprehensive monitoring of drinking well water quality in Seoul metropolitan city, Korea. Environ Monit Assess 185, 6353–6378 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-3030-1

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