Normal Water Supply After Pipe Lining Work

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The valve failure at Deoknam Reservoir, which caused a water outage in most areas of Gwangju, was repaired about 12 hours after the anomaly was detected. However, it is expected that more time will be needed for normal water supply to resume.

According to the Gwangju Waterworks Headquarters and Gwangju City on the 12th, the repair of the faulty valve at Deoknam Reservoir was completed around 6:20 PM that day.

Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung attended a situation assessment meeting on the afternoon of the 12th at the City Hall Disaster Countermeasures Conference Room to discuss emergency tap water supply measures following a valve failure at the Deoknam Water Purification Plant.
[Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City]

The Gwangju Waterworks Headquarters had earlier confirmed a problem with the valve sending water from Deoknam Reservoir to the water storage facility around 6 AM. It is estimated that the valve closed during the process of repairing a communication device issue that occurred around 3:30 AM.

As the valve closed, water could not flow out, causing overflow and flooding of nearby roads.

Consequently, due to the lack of water supply to the storage facility, water outages were implemented from 1 PM that day in Seo-gu, Nam-gu, Gwangsan-gu, and parts of Buk-gu.

The Waterworks Headquarters, struggling because the valve, part of a facility over 30 years old, would not open, finally opened the valve after two workers spent about an hour using a hydraulic jack in a maintenance tunnel 10 meters below ground.

They plan to weld an H-beam to the water transmission pipe and fix the opened valve so it does not close again. Since water flow control can also be done from the ground control room, the valve will be fixed in place.

However, since a flushing operation to remove muddy water remaining in the transmission pipe must be conducted, normal water supply is expected to resume around midnight. Even after repairs, some rusty or cloudy water may appear.

Gwangju City held an emergency accident response meeting with relevant departments to discuss follow-up measures.

The city estimates that about 55,000 households and 200,000 people were affected by this incident. Officials explained that the number of directly affected households may be lower due to the presence of water tanks in large buildings and apartments.

A Waterworks Headquarters official said, "We will do our best to supply clean water to all households as quickly as possible."