Gyeongnam Province, "No Recurrence of Seokdong Water Purification Plant Larvae Incident"

Comprehensive Measures to Strengthen Management in the Water Supply Sector 추진

Gyeongnam Provincial Government. / Photo by Se-ryeong Lee ryeong@

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Gyeongsangnam-do has prepared a comprehensive plan to alleviate residents' concerns following the larva outbreak incident at Seokdong Water Purification Plant in Changwon City on the 7th of last month.

On the 2nd, the province held a meeting with city and county officials to discuss the promotion of the ‘Comprehensive Measures to Strengthen Management in the Water Supply Sector.’

The plan was prepared to supplement the issues discovered during the handling of the Seokdong Water Purification Plant larva incident and to prevent recurrence of similar cases. It is a Gyeongnam-type water supply sector management strengthening measure covering the entire process of tap water supply.

The plan consists of a total of 15 tasks across four areas: ▲strengthening water quality monitoring ▲enhancing water purification plant operation and management and accident response ▲improving water supply pipelines ▲and strengthening resident services.

The province plans to shorten the monitoring measurement cycle of key surveillance items such as larvae and algal blooms from raw water intake to water purification to prevent larva incidents at purification plants and enable rapid initial response.

Regarding the enhancement of water purification plant operation, management, and accident response, hygiene management inspections will be strengthened to prevent accidents throughout the water treatment process, and facility improvements and the expertise of operating personnel will be increased.

To prevent the inflow of foreign substances such as larvae and to safely supply purified tap water to households, the province will improve water transmission facilities, including repairing aging water supply networks within the province.

The province also plans to accelerate the promotion of the emergency supply network construction project.

By connecting emergency pipelines between nearby purification plants, when water quality accidents such as larvae or operational shutdowns occur at a purification plant, the problematic plant will be blocked, and water will be supplied from another connected purification plant.

A provincial official said, “We will do our best to ensure the project is completed quickly through budget securing and cooperation with cities and counties.”

Gyeongsangnam-do will also enhance service accessibility to guarantee residents' right to know about tap water quality and to receive water quality inspection and accident information.

Lee Jaegi, head of the Water Quality Management Division of the province, said, “We will smoothly promote the local water supply emergency supply network construction project with cities and counties to supply safe and clean tap water even in emergencies,” and added, “We ask each city and county to strengthen the operation and management of purification plants to prevent water quality accidents such as algal blooms and larvae in advance.”

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