[2022 National Audit] Soldiers Still Cannot Drink Clean Water

Pointed out in the National Assembly audit... 31 Army, Navy, and Air Force sites deemed unsuitable

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] It has been revealed that 31 military units nationwide repeatedly received unsatisfactory ratings in drinking water quality tests last year.

According to the water quality test results for military water supply received by Song Ok-ju, a member of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly from the Ministry of National Defense on the 2nd, out of 692 water quality tests conducted in the second quarter of this year for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Ministry of National Defense direct units, 94 cases (13.6%) were judged unsatisfactory. The unsatisfactory rate for the second quarter tests increased from 7.3% in 2017 to 10.1% in 2019, then decreased to 5.0% in 2021, but surged this year. Some units repeatedly showed unsatisfactory results, indicating chronic problems with the water supply system.

The Ministry of National Defense responded to the lawmaker's office that the high unsatisfactory rate of military water supply is presumed to be caused by changes in groundwater quality due to various factors such as rainfall, temperature, soil conditions, and seasonal characteristics.

Units that received unsatisfactory ratings more than twice in last year's water quality tests include three locations of the 15th Division (Hwacheon, Gangwon), the 27th Division (Hwacheon, Gangwon), the 12th Division (Inje, Gangwon), the 3rd Division (Cheorwon, Gangwon), the Logistics Command (Daejeon), three locations of the 32nd Division (Chungnam), the 6th Division (Cheorwon, Gangwon), the Science Training Unit (Hongcheon, Gangwon), the 7th Division (Hwacheon, Gangwon), the 145th Intelligence Unit (Pocheon, Gyeonggi, all Army), five units located on Yeonpyeongdo, six units on Baengnyeongdo, units on Daecheongdo (all Navy), three locations of the Air Force Education Command (Jinju, Gyeongnam), and two locations of the 20th Combat Flight Group (Seosan, Chungnam), totaling 14 locations.

Regarding the inspection of water storage tanks that hold tap water, out of 554 tests conducted last year, 37 were found unsatisfactory. While the Army had no unsatisfactory cases, the Navy had over one-third of 98 tests, 37 cases, deemed unsuitable for drinking water.

Lawmaker Song pointed out that although the Ministry of National Defense allocated 77.7 billion won this year for water supply facility budgets following 66.8 billion won last year, the military's drinking water issues have not significantly improved.

Song said, "Despite a considerable number of unsatisfactory results in military water supply drinking water quality tests over the past five years, the Ministry of National Defense has not made improvements," adding, "We will thoroughly investigate during the national audit and devise improvement measures so that our soldiers can drink clean and clear water."

In response, the Ministry of National Defense stated, "We are promoting facility improvements based on the principle of supplying tap water to ensure stable access to drinking water for soldiers' daily lives, and in areas where tap water supply is insufficient, we will actively invest budgets in cooperation with local governments to expand tap water supply to military units."

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