Correlation Between Cyanobacterial Population and Water Quality Parameters in Geum River Region

Abstract

The occurrence of natural disasters have recently increased due to global warming, and water quality improvement projects are carried out in rivers for various purposes including restoring polluted water environment and aquatic ecosystem, and managing water resources. The most serious problem occurring in streams is algal bloom, or an increase in the population of blue-green algae, in terms of water quality. A correlation analysis was conducted on water quality parameters for the Sejong Weir, Gongju Weir, and Baekje Weir located in the Geum River, which is recently experiencing improvement in water quality by opening weirs. In particular, the correlation between the number of cyanobacterial cells and major water quality parameters of streams was analyzed based on the Pearson's correlation analysis. Furthermore, a multiple regression equation was derived by setting the number of cyanobacterial cells at each weir as a dependent variable and water quality parameters, which have a high correlation, as independent variables, in order to investigate the correlation between the cyanobacterial population and the concentration of water quality parameters in major streams of the Geum River. The parameters that had a statistically significant correlation were selected based on the correlation analysis between the number of cyanobacterial cells and water quality parameters per measurement point. The multiple regression equation of the number of cyanobacterial cells proposed in this study can be used to predict the possible number of cyanobacterial cells depending on the concentration of water quality parameters, thus being utilized in water quality management of the Geum River.