Updates on Industrial Wastewater
management in Republic of Korea
Tae-Jin Park, Ph.D., Senior Researcher
National Institute of Environmental Research
The 18th WEPA Annual Meeting
8 February 2023

Contents of Table
1. Regulatory framework for industrial waste water management
2. Industrial effluent standards (Permissible discharge limits)
3. Status of effluent monitoring/inspection
4. Compliance with regulations for effluent standards
5. Overview of industrial waste water as pollution sources
6. Issues and challenges, future targets/plans for properindustrial wastewater management
7. Recent development in water environmental governance1. Regulatory framework for industrial waste
water management□ Industrial effluent standards (or permissible discharge limit)
is in Water Environment Conservation Act.

2. Industrial effluent standards (Permissible
discharge limits)• The purpose of setting standards in effluent is to abide by WQS• Depending on types of facilities, the kind of standards is different.

2. Industrial effluent standards (Permissible
discharge limits)

2. Industrial effluent standards (Permissibledischarge limits)(Terminology)

2. Industrial effluent standards (Permissible
discharge limits)

2. Industrial effluent standards (Permissible
discharge limits)(Terminology)□ Effluent standards (7 parameters).
- This standard is applied to public-owned treatment plants andsewage treatment plants.
□ Permissible discharge limit (53 items).
- This limit is applied to private-owned treatment plants flowing
into the streams and rivers directly.

2. Industrial effluent standards (Permissible
discharge limits)

2. Industrial effluent standards (Permissibledischarge limits)

2. Industrial effluent standards (Permissibledischarge limits)

2. Industrial effluent standards (Permissibledischarge limits)

2. Industrial effluent standards (Permissibledischarge limits)

2. Industrial effluent standards (Permissible
discharge limits)(Implication of A,B,C and D)
A : Ia (Very good),

B : Ib(Good) ~ II (Fairly good), C : III(Fair) ~ V (Poor)

D : Public owned treatment plant area or industrial area, factory complex<Water Quality Standard for living environment>3. Status of effluent monitoring/inspection□ The responsibility for effluent monitoring- Local governments have been responsible for effluent monitoringsince 2002.
- Ministry of Environment still has been inspecting facilities irregularly
to compensate for local government.
- The interval of inspection is different in accordance with emission
amount of industrial facilities.
- Industrial facilities are divided into 5 levels depending on theamount of emission.

3. Status of effluent monitoring/inspection□ The Interval of inspection- Regular inspection by local government (Table below)- Irregular inspection by Ministry of Environment- Grade also plays a role in determining the number of inspection.
- Grade is determined by the latest 2-year results of inspection.

GradeInspection frequency in accordance with the emission amount ofindustrial facilities (Number of inspection/year)
Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Goodmanagement

1

½

½

½

½

Generalmanagement

32

2

1

1

Priority
management

4

4

3

3

3

4. Compliance with regulations for effluent
standards□ Violation rate of inspection between local
government and Ministry of Environment- Local economy was more important than pollution prevention.
- More Incompetent local government officials than those of MOE- More tricky violation by industrial facilities
2012

2013

2014

Local government

6.1 %

7.8 %

8.6 %

Ministry of Environment

26.5 %

28.9 %

28.0 %

4. Compliance with regulations for effluent
standards□ Trend of number of facilities and number ofinspection in Seoul from 1996 to 2021

4. Compliance with regulations for effluent
standards (Seoul)□ Violation rate in Seoul from 1996 to 2021

5. Overview of industrial waste water as pollution
sources
Steel

Semi-conductor

Pulp

TextileCarwashing

Metal
manufacturing

Number of industries

The number of industries generating wastewater in accordance withindustrial types

5. Overview of industrial waste water as pollution
sources

Generation

Steel

Semi-conductor

Pulp

TextileCarwashingMetalmanufacturing

Steel

Semi-conductor

Pulp

TextileCarwashingMetalmanufacturing

Amount generated and Effluent (1000m3/day)

Effluent

The Status of the generated amount wastewater and amount of effluent
in accordance with industrial types

5. Overview of industrial waste water as pollution
sources
Steel

Semi-conductor

Pulp

TextileCarwashing

BOD load generated (1000 kg/day)

BOD load in accordance with industrial types

Metal
manufacturing

5. Overview of industrial waste water as pollution
sources
Steel

Semi-conductor

Pulp

TextileCarwashingMetalmanufacturing

Effluent load of BOD (1000 kg/day)

Effluent load of BOD in accordance with industrial types

6. Issues and challenges, future targets/plans forproper industrial wastewater management① Discrepancy between the number of permissible
effluent limit and water quality standard- No or weak reasons to introduce permissible effluent limit withoutWQS
Water quality standard

28

Permissible effluent limit

53

Drinking water

610102030

Number of pollutants

40506070

6. Issues and challenges, future targets/plans forproper industrial wastewater management② Lower number of permissible effluent limit inpublic-owned treatment plants (POTP)
Private-owned treatment plants :53 substances

Public-owned treatment
plants : 7 substances

6. Issues and challenges, future targets/plans forproper industrial wastewater management① Taking into account to introduce PFAS topermissible discharge limit- So called “Forever chemical”, chemically stable- very toxic and easily bioaccumulative- US and EUs have prepared to introduce WQS and effluent limit.
- Monitoring results in Korea showed that a significant level of PFAS wasdetected in the water.
- It is time to take action to manage PFAS in Korea

6. Issues and challenges, future targets/plans forproper industrial wastewater management② Deriving priority substances and monitoring
unregulated micropollutants from the end of pipeo Selecting basis- Substances from all kinds of domestic and other countries’standards- Priority or surveillance substances from US, EU and Japan- Hazardous substances detected in ambient water of Korea- Substances manufactured, imported, sold in the market

o Assessing substances- Substances are prioritized by the possibility of detection, risk level,bioaccumulation, residual degree etc.
- Substances are categorized into 5 groups (1, 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B).

6. Issues and challenges, future targets/plans forproper industrial wastewater managemento The list of substances- 70 substances were prioritized into 5 groups below.
• 1 Group : 13 substances• 2A Group : 10 substances• 2B Group : 11 substances• 3A Group : 15 substances• 3B Group : 21 substanceso Monitoring is under way- These substances have been monitored from 2021 to 2025.

7. Recent development in water environmental
governance□ Expansion of enforcement of ecotoxicity from 2021
• This renewed enforcement was applied to all of the industrial
facilities (82 types) from 35 types of industrial facilities.
* The ecotoxicity management system was introduced as analternative to the conventional chemical parameters in 2007.
The ecotoxicity management system was aimed to identify thesafety of industrial wastewater effluent using an indicator organism.

(water flea : Daphnia magna).

Reference(1) Ministry of Environment, Generation and treatment of industrial wastewater in 2022
(2) G.Y. Hwang, Environmental inspection and control – Present state and policy direction(3) Environment Policy Framework Act(4) Water Environment Conservation Act(5) Seoul open data plaza (https://data.seoul.go.kr/dataList/339/S/2/datasetView.do)Thank you for your attention.