Seoul City Strengthens Water Supply Accident Response System... Measures to Prevent Recurrence Including Replacement of Aging Pipes

Analysis of 310 Incidents in the Water Supply Sector by Cause, Facility, and Type
Review of 3 Major Large-Scale Accidents: 'Noryangjin Flooding Accident,' 'Mullae-dong Water Quality Accident,' and 'Tap Water Larvae Accident'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Ahead of the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act next year, the Seoul Metropolitan Waterworks Authority held a major accident evaluation meeting in the waterworks sector on the 18th to analyze the causes of major accidents and announced on the 22nd that it plans to strengthen the accident response system going forward.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Waterworks Authority, a total of 310 major accidents in the waterworks sector occurred over the past 17 years from 2004 to 2020. Analyzing the accidents by cause, facility, type, and result, the findings were: the facility most involved was ‘transmission and distribution pipeline accidents’ (75%), the main cause was ‘facility aging’ (26%), the most common accident type was ‘pipeline accidents’ (57%), and the most frequent accident result was ‘leakage (water outage)’ (68%).

Analysis of 310 Major Accident Cases in the Seoul Metropolitan Waterworks Sector

The analysis showed that more than half of the accidents in the waterworks sector were ‘pipeline accidents,’ which mostly resulted in ‘leakage.’ Among the 310 accidents, there were 16 personnel accidents, resulting in 9 injuries and 18 deaths.

Additionally, Seoul selected three major recent waterworks accidents that caused significant concern and inconvenience to citizens: the Noryangjin flooding accident, the Mullae-dong water quality accident, and the tap water larvae accident. The city conducted a focused review of the causes of these incidents, the response measures taken, and the actions addressing criticisms from citizens and the media.

Meanwhile, Seoul confirmed that all 125 larvae-related complaints in Seoul during the ‘tap water larvae accident,’ which started in Incheon last July and spread to Jeju, were unrelated to tap water. However, Seoul stated that it is preparing proactive measures as a preventive step against such accidents.

The Seoul Metropolitan Waterworks Authority newly established a 365-day larvae monitoring system targeting water purification centers and reservoirs, and thoroughly maintained insect screens, air curtains, and pest control devices at these facilities to block larvae intrusion during the tap water purification and supply process. Furthermore, it plans to create related manuals to enable rapid response to suspected larvae reports or larvae occurrences in tap water.

Baek Ho, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Waterworks Authority, said, “In response to the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, a ‘record management culture’ that clearly and systematically manages various work instructions, safety inspection meetings, and worker safety education content will be necessary.” He added, “Through such a record culture policy, the responsibility for supervision in construction fields can be clarified, minimizing disputes in case of conflicts.”

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