Installing Rainwater Circulation Facilities Greatly Improves River Water Quality

Pyeongtaek City's Smart Green City Project Proven Effective
No Rainwater Runoff and Reduced Pollutants Even with 30mm Rainfall

'Preventing rainwater runoff and reducing pollutants.' This is the effect of the 'Smart Green City (Water Circulation) Creation' project conducted by Pyeongtaek City, Gyeonggi Province, to improve the environment around the Tongbokcheon watershed.

On the 5th, Pyeongtaek City announced that the environmental effect evaluation results of the Smart Green City creation project, established in 2023, showed excellent project effectiveness.

A Pyeongtaek city official is explaining the effects of the smart green city water circulation project established around the Tongbokcheon area. Provided by Pyeongtaek City

This project was carried out as part of the 'Regional Customized Environmental Improvement Contest Project' led by the Ministry of Environment in 2020. Targeting the Tongbokcheon watershed, where the impervious surface ratio increased due to rapid urban development, five rainwater circulation green infrastructure facilities and 1.3 km of urban streams were created from 2021 to 2023. The rainwater circulation green infrastructure is a facility that reduces rainwater runoff by expanding green spaces and ecological areas within the city.

The city explained that according to the environmental effect evaluation conducted after the completion of the facilities, in the experimental group area where the related facilities were applied, unlike the control group, no rainwater runoff occurred even with a cumulative rainfall of 29 mm, and pollutants were also effectively reduced. The city’s internal analysis indicated that when rainfall is below 30 mm, rainwater soaks directly into the ground without runoff, reducing urban pollutants and positively impacting the water quality improvement of Tongbokcheon.

Additionally, the city announced plans to maintain optimal soil conditions suitable for street trees by analyzing soil moisture status in real-time through an Internet of Things (IoT) moisture meter installed in the project section along National Route 1.

The urban stream created by reusing discharge water from a nearby public sewage treatment plant not only improves the environment but also contributes to citizen rest areas and urban landscape enhancement, according to the city’s evaluation.

Jang Jin-su, head of the Ecological Stream Division of Pyeongtaek City, said, "This project is an innovative success case solving urban environmental problems," and added, "We will continue to do our best to improve the city’s water circulation system and continuously mitigate heat island effects and flooding issues to create an eco-friendly city."

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