Incheon Reports Multiple 'Tap Water Larvae' Complaints... Larvae Found at Two Reservoirs

Larvae floating in tap water inside the showerhead [Photo by Yonhap News, provided by reader]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Reports of larvae in tap water are continuously occurring in nine districts and counties of Incheon, excluding Ongjin County.

According to Incheon City on the 17th, since the first larvae report at a villa in Wanggil-dong, Seo-gu on the 9th, a total of 194 related complaints have been filed to date.

Initially, reports were concentrated in Seo-gu, but since the 15th, similar complaints have continued throughout Incheon, including Michuhol-gu, Yeonsu-gu, Namdong-gu, Gyeyang-gu, Bupyeong-gu, and Jung-gu. By region, Seo-gu had the highest number of complaints with 151 cases, followed by Bupyeong-gu and Gyeyang-gu with 31 cases, and Yeonsu-gu and Namdong-gu with 8 cases.

Field investigations confirmed the presence of 'chironomid larvae' at 90 locations, while larvae were not found at 30 locations. Investigations are ongoing at the remaining 74 locations.

Based on the investigation results so far, Incheon City and related agencies believe that the chironomid larvae originated from the activated carbon filtration beds of the advanced treatment facility at Gongchon Water Purification Plant and traveled through water pipes to households.

The city reported that monitoring of eight reservoirs connected to Gongchon Water Purification Plant found larvae at two reservoirs in Ganghwa and Geomdan. It is presumed that larvae occurred in pond-type filtration beds without covers and with long cleaning cycles.

Filtering tests on 12 direct water pipes of water meters in areas where larvae complaints occurred found no larvae.

The city has completed cleaning of four water purification reservoirs and ten distribution reservoirs in the region. Fire hydrant discharges of 133,000 tons and 2,000 tons were also conducted in Seo-gu and Ganghwa areas, respectively.

An Incheon City official stated, "During the water purification process, chlorine is injected at concentrations of 0.8 to 1.2 ppm, which mostly eliminates insects, but it is presumed that some larvae traveled through the water pipes to consumers." He added, "We are conducting investigations with related agencies such as Korea Water Resources Corporation and the Hangang River Basin Environmental Office, keeping all possibilities open throughout the entire tap water supply process."

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