Impact of land-use types on nitrate concentration and δ15N in unconfined groundwater in rural areas of Korea

An understanding of the long-term changes in the nitrate contamination pattern of unconfined groundwater is critical to conservation of drinking water in rural areas supporting mixed land-use activities such as cropping, livestock farming, and residence. To examine the effect of different land-use activities on nitrate contamination, groundwater samples were collected monthly for 3 years (1997-1999) from 12 wells in rural areas with different land-use activities and analyzed for the concentrations and N isotopic ratios (δ15N) of nitrate. The characteristics of nitrate contamination clearly differed with land-use activities. The percentages of samples that had a nitrate concentration exceeding the national standard for drinking water (10 mg N L-1) were 0, 23, 43, and 67% for the uncontaminated natural area, cropping area, cropping-livestock farming complex area, and residential area, respectively. The range of δ15N values was between +1.4 and +4.5 per thousand for groundwater nitrate from the uncontaminated natural area. In the cropping area, the δ15N values were slightly different with the type of fertilizer applied to fields in the vicinity of the well, and the values ranged between +8.7 and +14.4 per thousand for the compost-applied area and between +4.5 and +8.5 per thousand for the area where urea was applied with compost. The δ15N values of the cropping-livestock farming complex area ranged from +1.0 to +17.7 per thousand, probably resulting from mixed contamination sources (inorganic fertilizer and livestock manure). The well located closest to the livestock feedlot had relatively higher δ15N values, with a range between +8.7 and +17.6 per thousand. In the residential area, a higher δ15N (most frequently above +10 per thousand) of nitrate suggested that the major source of contamination was effluent from leaky septic tanks. Our data showed that unconfined groundwater is susceptible to land-use activities above the aquifers, and the impacts of the activities could be more precisely inferred from long-term data on the concentration and δ15N of nitrate. By determining the impacts, more effective (specific to contamination sources) measures for preventing groundwater quality could be implemented.