Nowon-gu Supports Replacement of Old Apartment Water Pipes

Since 2019, 3 billion KRW invested to replace old communal water supply pipes in aging apartment complexes... Starting with Junggye Jugong 5 Complex, a total of 12 complexes and about 13,900 households have had pipes replaced... By 2022, support will extend to 31 complexes and about 42,000 households to create a safe drinking environment

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is actively carrying out a project to replace old water supply pipes in order to prevent water quality deterioration and water outage accidents occurring in apartment complexes.

Nowon-gu has apartment complexes and other multi-family housing accounting for 83% of all housing, with 69.9% of apartment complexes over 20 years old and 17.5% over 30 years old, making it urgent to improve the drinking environment, including preventing rust-colored water.

The district has been conducting a support project for replacing aging pipes since last year to address these issues.

The target includes 31 complexes with galvanized steel water pipes built before April 1994, totaling about 42,700 households. So far, with a budget of 3 billion KRW from the district, support has been provided to 12 complexes and about 13,900 households, starting with Junggye Jugong Complex 5.

The support amount is up to 300,000 KRW per household, excluding up to 600,000 KRW of city funds from the total replacement cost of 900,000 KRW.

In 2021, considering the aging of apartments, sequential support was planned for 9 complexes with about 12,300 households, and in 2022 for 10 complexes with about 15,400 households.

The support criteria prioritize applications received by the Waterworks Office in order, with preference given to complexes meeting long-term repair plans and long-term repair reserve funds (construction costs), aging multi-family housing, small-scale complexes, and those without disputes related to pipe replacement.

The target complexes are finally selected through deliberation by the Multi-family Housing Support Committee to ensure transparency and fairness.

Applications for support must be submitted in person to the Nowon-gu Office’s Multi-family Housing Support Division with the approval of the residents' representative meeting and related documents (minutes of the residents' representative meeting, project plan, approval letter for construction cost support from Seoul Waterworks Office, etc.).

Additionally, the district is implementing a ‘Multi-family Housing Support Project’ to create a pleasant and safe residential environment. This year, support is provided for community activation projects such as improving senior centers within apartment complexes, installing and repairing public facilities like roads, security lights, and elevators, making gochujang (red chili paste), rooftop gardening, and joint childcare projects.

This year, 74 apartment complexes were selected through the Multi-family Housing Support Committee’s deliberation, receiving about 1.32 billion KRW in support.

In particular, starting this year, experts from various fields have been appointed as inspection advisory groups for the construction supported by the district to prevent poor-quality work.

District Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “Many complexes find it difficult to replace pipes due to insufficient long-term repair reserve funds even when rust-colored water appears,” adding, “We will realize a livable city Nowon by preventing rust-colored water through support for replacing aging water pipes and creating a pleasant and safe residential environment.”

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