Gyeonggi-do Takes Action to Improve Color of Darkened Hantan River

[Asia Economy (Uijeongbu) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province and the relevant local governments have joined hands to revive the blackened Hantan River.

On the 25th, Gyeonggi Province announced that it signed an 'Agreement for Improving the Color Tone of the Hantan River' with the Ministry of Environment and four local governments?Yangju, Pocheon, Dongducheon, and Yeoncheon?at the Uijeongbu Northern Gyeonggi Government Complex.

Color tone is a standard indicating the degree of water coloration, where 1 degree is defined as the color appearing when 1 mL of standard color solution is mixed with 1 L of water. According to the Water Supply Act, the color tone of tap water must be 5 degrees or less. The importance of color tone lies in the fact that a high color tone blocks sunlight, hindering the river's self-purification process and causing problems in the aquatic ecosystem.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung said in his greeting, "I believe the Hantan River is the most beautiful river in northern Gyeonggi. If it is restored to its past clean water quality, its resource value will be incomparable." He added, "There are cultural and environmental heritages nearby, such as Paleolithic sites. If water quality is improved and maintained cleanly, it can be utilized as a major tourist resource in the metropolitan area. I ask for your special attention."

This agreement follows a request made by Yeoncheon County Governor Kim Kwang-chul during the second half of last year's provincial-city/county policy cooperation committee meeting in July, asking for 'Improvement of the Hantan River watershed color tone.'

Governor Kim stated, "The upper reaches of the Hantan River in Yeoncheon County have a color tone of about 7, which is good, but when Yeongpyeongcheon and Sincheon join, the color tone rises to 15. Industrial wastewater from nearby factories is the main cause and needs improvement."

The problem is that improving the color tone requires upgrading public sewage and wastewater treatment facilities, but the current financial conditions of the cities and counties make it difficult to bear the costs of facility upgrades and operations.

Also, under the current system, there is no color tone standard for discharge from public sewage or public wastewater treatment facilities, so factories within industrial complexes sending wastewater to public treatment facilities are not required to manage color tone.

A provincial official explained, "This agreement is meaningful in that Gyeonggi Province and the four local governments in the Hantan River basin have set target standards for color tone to restore the water clarity of the Hantan River watershed and laid the groundwork to restore the Hantan River as a national tourist destination as before."

The province plans to propose a color tone standard (draft) through investigations and, based on this, request the Ministry of Environment to announce the color tone standard. Then, they will negotiate with the government to receive national funding support for facility improvement costs. The four cities and counties will focus on the operation, management, and improvement of public sewage and wastewater treatment facilities and the management of color tone pollution sources.

The Hantan River is an excellent tourist resource currently pursuing UNESCO Global Geopark certification, with many tourist attractions nearby such as the Jeongok-ri Prehistoric Site and the Hantan River National Tourist Site.

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