AWWA JAW53264

To help determine the future course of the source water management policies ofSeoul, South Korea, this article qualitatively analyzes and compares the existingsource water management systems of five large metropolitan areas: Seoul; Chicago,Ill.; and, New York, N.Y. in the United States; and, Osaka and Tokyo in Japan.New York and Chicago have completely separated systems for source water andwastewater that do not allow wastewater, even treated effluent, to mix withsource water. As a result, these cities enjoy source water of the highest qualityon a sustainable basis. However, Tokyo and Osaka still struggle with low waterquality, even though their wastewater handling capabilities are by no meansinferior to those of the American cities. The Japanese cities' water qualityproblems appear to occur primarily because their systems allow treated effluentsand discharges from agricultural and urban nonpoint sources to be mixed intotheir source water systems. Recently, through programs that build wastewaterconveyance aqueducts along sections of the Yodo and Edo rivers, Osaka and Tokyo,respectively, have begun to adopt the concept of separating wastewater fromsource waters. The authors believe that if Osaka and Tokyo want to furtherimprove their source water quality, they must follow the example of New York andChicago and expand the concept of separation of systems farther upstream. Seoulhas taken a similar approach by trying to separate its primary water andwastewater systems, and then proceed with expanding its waste systems andintroducing advanced water treatment processes. Includes 13 references, tables, figures.

Product Details

Edition:

Vol. 93 - No. 1

Published:

01/01/2001

Number of Pages:

12

File Size:

1 file , 440 KB