"Not a single larva was found in the citizens' drinking water."
As the controversy over the chironomid larvae found recently in the indoor swimming pool operated by the Changwon Facilities Corporation in Gyeongnam extended to tap water, Changwon City stated this on the 4th through a press release.
The city said, "As a countermeasure against the chironomid larvae occurrence at Seokdong Water Purification Plant last year, four purification plants under the city's jurisdiction have obtained the ISO22000 international standard certification for food safety management systems, and we are doing our best to manage tap water at a food-grade level."
They emphasized, "We clearly state that not a single larva has been found in the tap water supplied by the city up to today."
Regarding the larvae discovery incident in the swimming pool, the city drew a clear line, attributing responsibility to the Facilities Corporation.
According to the city, as the tap water supplier, Changwon City is responsible up to the household faucets and the inflow parts of water tanks in multi-unit buildings.
The larvae found in places like the swimming pool are under the management responsibility of the corporation, which uses tap water secondarily.
Water Quality Inspection and Management Results Disclosure Board on the Website of the Sangsu Waterworks Office, Changwon-si, Gyeongnam.
The city explained, "As revealed by the Facilities Corporation, leakage in the swimming pool's balance tank and defects in the depth control plate were found, leading to the decision to close the pool. While inspecting the damaged depth control plate, an unidentified organism was discovered."
"Since the pool was closed for facility repairs, it is understood that the corporation did not notify citizens based on its own judgment," adding, "If the chironomid larvae had been identified while the pool was in operation, the corporation would have immediately disclosed it to the public."
"Our city conducts inspections of 60 items monthly, including monitoring items and inspection cycles for drinking water quality as stipulated by the Water Supply Act and the Ministry of Environment's announced standards. Additionally, 7 to 14 items, including the presence or absence of larvae, are checked daily," they said. "Inspection and monitoring results are fully disclosed on the website of the Waterworks Office, a direct agency of the city, in accordance with the Water Supply Ordinance."
They continued, "All inspection and monitoring processes are conducted strictly following related ordinances and guidelines," and "We will continue to devote all efforts to supplying clean tap water to citizens."
Changwon Facilities Corporation Indoor Swimming Pool, Gyeongnam. [Photo by Changwon Facilities Corporation]
Earlier, on the 1st, the Facilities Corporation announced the reopening of the Changwon Indoor Swimming Pool and stated that the recent temporary closure was not primarily due to the discovery of chironomid larvae.
They apologized for the delayed notification of the larvae discovery in the swimming pool.
A corporation official said, "The exact identity of the discovered organism was not confirmed, and we focused on improving the facility environment for citizen safety and convenience, which caused us to miss the timing to explain."
"The closure was decided first to repair facility defects for citizen safety," adding, "The temporary closure was not due to larvae being found."
"The reason for not informing citizens about the chironomid larvae was that the pool was already closed for repairs, and since it was confirmed that there was no water quality problem, we internally judged there was no need to cause public concern," they explained.
According to the corporation, on October 23, leakage occurred in the balance tank of the machine room at the Changwon Indoor Swimming Pool, and the depth control plate was damaged, prompting urgent repairs.
The corporation decided to close the pool until repairs were completed due to concerns about water supply and safety accidents, initiating a temporary closure from that day until the 31st of the same month.
They informed citizens of the temporary closure due to urgent repairs through notices at the pool entrance, text messages, and website announcements.
While inspecting the damaged depth control plate, an unidentified organism was found, which was collected and sent to the National Institute of Biological Resources in Incheon for testing. On the 25th of last month, it was confirmed to be chironomid larvae.
The corporation formed a task force and organized investigation, recovery, and support teams to conduct a thorough inspection of the swimming pool and implement facility and water quality environment improvements.
Joint inspections with the Changwon City Water Quality Center and Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) confirmed no abnormalities in the tap water.
On the day before reopening, final safety inspections of the facilities and tests for larvae in the swimming pool's larva filter samples were conducted again to ensure no issues for use.
A corporation official said, "We will manage the swimming pool water quality environment more thoroughly so that citizens can swim in clean and safe water," and "From now on, we will make it a principle to disclose even minor matters to citizens."
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