Water Quality Assessment of 49 Rivers in Gyeonggi Province: 79.7% Rated as "Good Water"

Approximately 80% of rivers in Gyeonggi Province have been rated as having "good water" quality, classified as Grade 1 or 2.

The Gyeonggi Institute of Health and Environment announced on August 18 that, according to its "2024 Gyeonggi Province Water Quality Assessment Report," 79.7% of 49 major rivers in the province were found to have "good water" (Grades 1-2). This figure represents a 3.0 percentage point improvement compared to 76.7% in 2023.

This assessment was conducted jointly with the Ministry of Environment from January to December 2024, targeting 133 sites across 49 rivers within the "Hangang River Basin," including the Namhangang, Bukhangang, Hangang, Anseongcheon, and Sihwa Lake.

The main evaluation criteria included: ▲ Achievement of target water quality based on river living environment standards ▲ Annual average water quality trends ▲ Pollution analysis by water system using Q-GIS (open-source geographic information system) ▲ Water quality change trends over the past 10 years ▲ Annual and water system-specific improvement rates and nutrient status for 10 lakes in the province.

The results showed that, among the 15 sub-basins of the Hangang River system, all monitoring sites in nine sub-basins-Gyeongan Stream, Uiam Dam, Hongcheon River, Cheongpyeong Dam, Paldang Dam, upper and lower Imjin River, Hangang Jamsil, and the lower Hangang-were rated as "good water."

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

"Good water" is defined as water with a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of 3.0 mg/L or less, making it suitable for use as domestic or swimming water after purification.

Over the past three years, the annual achievement rates for "good water" have shown improvement: 71.4% in 2022, 76.7% in 2023, and 79.7% in 2024.

Since 2018, the Institute has published and distributed its annual water quality assessment report, making it easily accessible to the public through the Gyeonggi Water Information System (water.gg.go.kr) and the Gyeonggi Institute of Health and Environment website (gg.go.kr/gg_health).

Kim Donggi, Director of the Water Environment Research Division at the Institute, stated, "We hope this report will be widely used as a basis for establishing policies to improve river and lake water quality and for water resource management," adding, "We will continue ongoing monitoring and research to create a water environment that residents can truly experience."

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