WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AFTER ESTABLISHING SEAWATER EXCHANGE SYSTEM AT JUMUNJIN HARBOR IN KOREA

Resumen

Water quality of the harbor encompassed by a conventional breakwater is easily deteriorated when pollutants that exceed capability of natural purification are entered into the harbor. Jumunjin harbor, located on the east coast of Korean peninsula, had suffered such a serious pollution problem owing to severe stagnation of the seawater circulation inside and outside the harbor. As a countermeasure to this environmental problem, a seawater exchange system was established in some section of the existing breakwater in order to accelerate seawater circulation around the harbor. The two-year construction of the seawater exchange system was accomplished in January 2004, and since then the water quality of the harbor has been greatly improved. In this paper, we present the results of monitoring on the water quality at Jumunjin harbor during the time period before, during, and after the construction of the seawater exchange system.