Underground Tap Water Leaking... Ulsan City Waterworks Leakage Reduction Project

Reinforcement of Workforce, Canal Replacement, and Block Advancement

Targeting 91% Water Retention Rate by 2025

Do you know how much tap water is leaking from underground pipes after leaving the water purification plant?

The Ulsan City government is launching a project to track these leaks and reduce wasted tap water.

On the 5th, Ulsan City announced that it will promote a “Water Loss Reduction Plan” aiming for a water service rate of 91% by 2025 to improve water supply management and reduce tap water production costs.

The water service rate refers to the ratio of tap water produced at the purification plant that reaches households through water pipes and is billed. A higher water service rate means less water is wasted during the supply process.

So far, Ulsan’s water service rate increased from 88.6% in 2011 to a peak of 90.1% in 2016 through pipe replacement and focused leak management after a rate hike in 2012.

However, in 2022, the rate was 88.2%, a 0.9 percentage point increase from 87.3% in 2021. This is higher than the national average of 85.9% in 2021 but still below the average of 93.2% among the seven major metropolitan cities.

The main reasons cited are delayed maintenance of aging pipes and insufficient implementation of technical services such as leak detection by specialized agencies due to worsening financial conditions caused by continued rate freezes.

Additionally, the number of leak detection personnel within the headquarters decreased from 14 in 2011 to 9 in 2017 and currently only 3, which is also identified as a cause of the decline in the water service rate.

Ulsan City set a goal to raise the water service rate from 88.2% at the end of last year to 91% by 2025 and plans to promote ▲ reinforcement of leak detection personnel ▲ advancement of the block system ▲ replacement of aging pipes ▲ expansion of regular inspections of water facilities.

To reinforce leak detection personnel, starting in April, the headquarters will deploy mobile teams to increase the leak detection squads from the current 1 team with 3 members to 2 teams with 6 members. There are plans to continuously promote this through regular personnel reinforcement in the future.

They will also advance the operation of the block system for managing water volume, pressure, and leaks. Through specialized services, priority will be given to blocks with low water service rates, and 3 billion KRW will be invested over three years starting in 2024 to improve water service rates by block. Next year, a 500 million KRW service will be conducted in 8 blocks as a priority.

The replacement of aging water pipes and regular inspections of water facilities will also be expanded. So far, 38% of aging pipes have been replaced, and the remaining sections will be replaced annually by 2035. Pipes in areas with complaints such as water pressure drops will be inspected regularly to proactively prevent leaks.

An official from the Waterworks Headquarters said, “It is true that reinvestment in facilities to improve the water service rate was delayed due to worsening financial conditions caused by the inability to raise water rates over the past 10 years. We will first expand leak detection by reinforcing our own personnel, and if rates increase in the second half of the year, we will strengthen the advancement of the block system and replacement of aging pipes starting next year.”

According to the 2022 fiscal year settlement, Ulsan’s water rate realization rate is 74.7%, which is known to be the second lowest among special and metropolitan cities, following Incheon City.

Ulsan City Hall.

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