Busan City Takes Active Steps to Improve Odor and Water Quality of Dongcheon

'Implementation of the Bujeoncheon Upper Stream Seongjigok Valley Water Direct Inflow Project'

Riverbed Dredging, Purification, and Pipeline Improvement Works, Normalization of Seawater Supply Expected

Busan City will begin a full-scale water quality improvement project for Dongcheon Stream starting this September to resolve citizen inconvenience caused by bad odors and poor water quality.

After the second seawater intake project, the water quality of Dongcheon Stream at the Beom 4 Bridge improved by 59%, with BOD levels dropping from 9.9mg/L (2017) before construction to 4.1mg/L (2021).

Conceptual diagram after direct inflow project of Seongjigok Valley water (unknown water) to Dongcheon.

However, Dongcheon Stream is a tidal river heavily influenced by ocean tides, and its structure causes water pollution to worsen as sediment increases. In particular, during summer, the inflow of combined sewer overflows due to rainfall and rising water temperatures cause riverbed sediments to decay, often resulting in scum and foul odors (such as hydrogen sulfide).

Improvement of water quality and odor through securing maintenance water and blocking pollutant inflow.

To address these issues, the city will simultaneously carry out projects to secure maintenance water and block pollution sources as part of the water quality improvement initiative.

First, to secure and improve maintenance water, the city will implement: ▲ a project to directly introduce Seongjigok Valley water from the upper reaches of Bujeoncheon Stream into Dongcheon Stream, and ▲ repair and dredging of the Dongcheon seawater intake pipeline, both by June next year.

By directly introducing Seongjigok Valley water into Dongcheon Stream for maintenance flow and installing a 1.7km-long combined and stormwater separation wall in Bujeoncheon Stream, the city aims to prevent pollutants from entering the river.

In addition, grit chambers and weirs that cause bad odors and water pollution will be removed to eliminate pollution sources.

Furthermore, to resolve the issue of unstable maintenance water supply to Gwangmu Bridge due to leaks in the seawater intake pipeline, the city will begin ▲ repair work on the seawater intake pipeline and ▲ dredging and purification of Dongcheon Stream starting this September.

By June next year, with a project budget of 4.1 billion KRW, the city will investigate and analyze damaged sections of the first and second intake pipelines, remove sediment from the riverbed, clean and repair aging facilities.

Additionally, the city plans to install non-point pollution reduction facilities by 2026 to block pollutants entering Dongcheon Stream and Bujeoncheon Stream from roads and construction sites during initial rainfall. By 2028, redevelopment and reconstruction areas with unmaintained sewage pipelines will be improved to fundamentally block pollutants from flowing into Dongcheon Stream.

Lee Byungseok, Director of the Environmental Water Policy Office, said, "We have continuously promoted water quality improvement projects for Dongcheon Stream, but we have not yet reached a level that fully satisfies citizens. Although it may take some time, we will prepare various improvement measures and strive to transform Dongcheon Stream into a river with clear water. We also expect that the annual fish kills and summer odors that have inconvenienced citizens will be resolved."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.