Seoul City Invests 117.5 Billion Won to Strengthen Water Pipe Replacement and Cleaning... Proactive Maintenance of Old Water Pipes

Replacement of Aging Pipes, Support for Replacement Costs of Aging Pipes in Homes, Strengthened Pipe Cleaning to Restore Trust in Water Pipes
91.6 Billion Won for Long-Term Pipe Maintenance This Year... 673.6 Billion Won Invested Over 5 Years Until 2024 for 455km Maintenance
Replacement of Rust-Prone Water Pipes in Homes... 16.3 Billion Won Support for 27,000 Households This Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Waterworks Authority announced on the 24th that it will invest 117.5 billion KRW this year to strengthen the replacement and cleaning of water pipes.

According to Seoul City, on the 21st, Mayor Oh Se-hoon, after receiving a business report from the Waterworks Authority, urged thorough replacement and maintenance of water pipes directly related to citizens' health, emphasizing that safety should be the top priority in carrying out the project.

Seoul plans to focus investment this year on ▲ proactive maintenance of long-used water pipes (91.6 billion KRW) ▲ support for replacing old water pipes inside homes (16.3 billion KRW) ▲ cleaning of large pipes and water cleaning of small blocks (9.6 billion KRW) to restore trust in tap water and improve the reliability of the water supply system.

First, systematic maintenance will be promoted, including proactive replacement of long-used water pipes. Over five years until 2024, about 673.6 billion KRW will be invested to maintain 455 km of water pipes. Among the second-generation water pipes that are less prone to rust, pipes that have been in use for more than 31 years or are in areas with frequent reports of leaks and foreign substances will be inspected, and 455 km of pipes will be prioritized for maintenance by 2024.

Support for replacing water pipes vulnerable to rust inside homes will also be actively provided. This is to fundamentally resolve the rust water issue, which has been a major cause of distrust in tap water. This year, 16.3 billion KRW will be provided to 27,517 households eligible for replacement support. Since 2007 until last year, Seoul has replaced old water pipes in 495,000 households, which is 87% of the 565,000 households eligible for replacement support. The remaining 70,000 households will be actively supported with 61.8 billion KRW invested from this year through 2025 to replace water pipes vulnerable to rust.

The support amount covers up to 80% of the total construction cost, with a maximum of 1.5 million KRW for single-family houses, up to 5 million KRW for multi-family houses, and up to 1.4 million KRW per household for apartments and other collective housing. Eligible targets are houses built before April 1994 that use galvanized steel pipes vulnerable to rust as indoor water supply pipes. For eligibility confirmation and application procedures, related consultations can be made by calling the Dasan Call Foundation (without area code, 120) or the local waterworks office.

Cleaning of water pipes for supplying clean tap water will also be actively promoted. At the end of last year, Seoul established a "Basic Plan for Annual Pipe Cleaning" to prevent turbidity caused by long-used pipes or water system switching (changing the flow of water). Among 131 km of large pipes (400 mm or more) prioritized for cleaning by 2025, 4.2 billion KRW will be invested this year to perform mechanical cleaning on 16 km.

For small distribution and supply pipes (80?350 mm), water cleaning will be conducted on 407 small blocks, which is one-fifth of the total 2,037 small blocks in Seoul, with an investment of 5.4 billion KRW. The total length targeted for cleaning this year is 700 km. As a result of water cleaning on 440 small blocks last year, the average turbidity decreased by 0.24 NTU after cleaning, and residual chlorine improved by 0.09 mg/L, confirming the effect of water quality improvement.

Gu Ami, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Waterworks Authority, said, "Seoul is meticulously managing the supply process through various methods such as operating real-time automatic water quality measuring devices and periodically replacing and cleaning water pipes," adding, "We will do our best to wash away citizens' distrust of water pipes and safely supply Arisu, a world-class quality tap water, to every household."

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