Gwangju City Achieves 90.8% Water Supply Efficiency Last Year... 9 Years Ahead of Schedule

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City achieved its water supply system efficiency rate target of 90.8%, originally set for 2029, nine years ahead of schedule.

The Gwangju Waterworks Headquarters announced on the 19th that last year's efficiency rate rose by 2.6 percentage points from 88.2% in 2019 to 90.8%, resulting in an additional 3.3 million tons of tap water being billed.

The efficiency rate refers to the ratio of the volume of tap water produced at the water purification plant and delivered to households through the water distribution network that is accounted for as revenue from water charges.

According to the city's basic water supply maintenance plan, the Waterworks Headquarters implemented personnel innovation last July by significantly increasing the number of experienced professionals in the water supply sector to improve the efficiency rate.

Through this, last year, they maintained 32.3 km of aging water pipes and repaired 320 unused pipes. In addition to pipe maintenance, they promoted a systematic leakage prevention project (detection and restoration) using an advanced block leakage monitoring system, leading to the rise in the efficiency rate.

Going forward, Gwangju plans to complete the organizational restructuring of the Waterworks Headquarters within the first half of this year to enhance expertise in water supply operations and provide high-quality administrative services that are accessible to citizens.

They will also continue to promote the establishment of a water management system capable of systematic response even in emergencies.

Furthermore, by 2030, with a budget of approximately 300 billion KRW, projects will be carried out to replace aging water pipes, conduct valve construction, supply clean water, and improve the efficiency rate. AI-based smart network management and advanced water supply system upgrades will also be implemented.

Yeom Bang-yeol, head of the Waterworks Headquarters, stated, “We will mobilize all necessary organizational innovations and capabilities to supply clean tap water to citizens more stably,” adding, “We will work harder to increase citizens' trust in water supply administration.”

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