[Interview] "AI Manages Water Quality"... The First Public Recruitment Batch Member Responsible for Clean Samdasoo Safety

Interview with Hyun Eun-hee, Head of R&D Innovation Division at Jeju Development Corporation
Introduction of AI Water Quality Analysis System for Groundwater Resource Conservation and Management
Advancement of Eco-friendly Container Development... Focus on Ensuring Safety
"18 Years → 33 Years" Jeju Samdasoo Age Expected to Increase

"Water is something we always keep by our side and drink from birth until death. Jeju Samdasoo, safe water for everyone, approaches research and production with a sense of mission to create such water."

Hyun Eun-hee, Head of the R&D Innovation Division at Jeju Development Corporation, recently emphasized in an interview with Asia Economy at the Jeju Samdasoo factory in Jocheon-eup, Jeju City, that safety is the focus at the center of all research and production. Since water is an essential element for all living things to survive, Jeju Samdasoo’s principle and philosophy is that even seemingly trivial aspects for "safe water" can never be neglected.

Jeju Development Corporation established the R&D Innovation Center in 2021 to handle research and development of water resources that become the raw water for Jeju Samdasoo, as well as quality improvement of products such as eco-friendly packaging. At the end of last year, the organization was reorganized and renamed the R&D Innovation Division. The company appointed Hyun, who joined Jeju Development Corporation in 1999 as part of the first public recruitment and has devoted her entire career to Jeju Samdasoo, as the head of the newly launched Innovation Division. In her first year in office, Hyun expressed her determination to achieve meaningful results in both improving the quality management system of Samdasoo, which has held the number one position in the domestic bottled water market for 25 years, and advancing the development of eco-friendly products.

Hyun Eun-hee, Head of R&D Innovation Division, Jeju Development Corporation

Pure Jeju Samdasoo Protected by AI Predictive Management System

Hyun believes that good water is "unpolluted water." Unpolluted water is not simply water made clean through purification processes at the factory, but water drawn from a cleanly managed water source that is free from various pollution indicators. Therefore, strict management of the water source where clean raw water is generated and preserved is a prerequisite to being evaluated as unpolluted water.

Hyun confidently stated that Jeju Samdasoo is exactly the water that meets all the conditions of "unpolluted water" she envisions. She emphasized that preserving and managing the water source to keep Jeju Samdasoo free from pollution is the most important mission going forward.

Jeju Samdasoo is made from natural volcanic bedrock water formed by rainwater falling at an altitude of 1,450 meters on Hallasan Mountain, flowing through basalt and volcanic pumice layers that act as natural filters over a long period, resulting in a balanced mineral content including calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Hyun explained, "Samdasoo is free from all indicators measuring water pollution such as nitrate index and radioactive substances. The water quality now is the same as when the groundwater was first developed 26 years ago, which means the water quality is stably maintained."

Jeju Samdasoo Smart Factory L5 Exterior View.

To preserve and manage such pristine groundwater resources, Jeju Development Corporation has introduced and operates an artificial intelligence (AI) water quality analysis system. Currently, a total of 113 observation networks have been installed around the water source and surrounding areas, comprehensively monitoring and analyzing groundwater levels, water intake, river outflow, and soil conditions. Groundwater level data is combined with deep learning AI (LSTM) technology to analyze the impact of Jeju Samdasoo water intake on groundwater level fluctuations in surrounding areas.

This year, the company plans to take a step further in establishing a management system. While water source preservation and management have so far been conducted by monitoring current status, the plan is to shift the groundwater management paradigm to future prediction and proactive response management to prepare for changes in the groundwater environment. As part of this plan, research and development are being advanced on optimal Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and AI ensemble models.

Until last year, the AI was used to predict future groundwater level changes, verifying prediction performance for one month, and now research is underway for prediction performance over three months or more. Hyun said, "If this research is successfully conducted, Jeju Samdasoo groundwater preservation management will be able to proactively respond to groundwater environmental changes based on AI predictions for over three months. This is a groundwater source preservation management model for drinking water that is rarely seen worldwide."

Raw water storage tank inside the Jeju Samdasoo factory.

Along with AI-based water source management, Jeju Development Corporation has been steadily purchasing land around the water source to block potential pollution sources. The land purchased over several years amounts to 220,000 pyeong (approximately 726,000 square meters). Since 2020, the water source area located in the mid-mountain zone of Hallasan has been designated as a special groundwater resource management zone by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, restricting all development activities that could affect groundwater, thereby establishing an institutional foundation for Jeju Samdasoo to be continuously used as a sustainable clean groundwater resource.

The age of Jeju Samdasoo, currently introduced as 18 years, is also expected to change. Until now, it was known that it takes 18 years for rainwater to pass through volcanic pumice layers and become groundwater for Jeju Samdasoo. However, recent tracking investigations over several years have produced a new figure of 33 years, and verification is currently underway by multiple overseas specialized institutions. Hyun explained, "While the proposition that older groundwater is better water does not necessarily hold, in the case of volcanic bedrock water like Samdasoo, the longer it reacts with geology, the more the filtering effect is enhanced and mineral content can increase."

Clean Water in Clean Bottles... Advancing Eco-Friendly Container Development

Jeju Samdasoo No-Label Product 'Jeju Samdasoo Green'

The R&D Innovation Division is also actively engaged in research and development of various eco-friendly products such as the label-free ‘Jeju Samdasoo Green.’ As consumer interest and standards for eco-friendly consumption continue to rise, the vision of ‘plastic-free’ aligns with the long-term direction of Jeju Samdasoo, which has a clean image. This year, Jeju Development Corporation has set internal goals to achieve meaningful progress in two areas: reducing the amount of plastic used in PET bottles and developing PET bottles using recycled materials.

So far, more tangible results have been made in lightweighting plastic containers. In 2021, Jeju Samdasoo introduced Jeju Samdasoo Green, which applies a three-no (無) system: no label, no colored cap, and no colored bottle. This product accounted for over 40% of total sales last year, keeping pace with high market demand. Recently, to enable individual sales of label-free products, which were previously only sold in packs due to mandatory labeling regulations for drinking water, the company introduced the industry’s first bottled water with a QR code on the cap.

Although the product is now in its fourth year since launch, progress on label-free products is still ongoing. The weight of the PET bottle for the existing 2L product was 51g, but it was reduced to 46g by switching to a label-free product, and this year the goal is to reduce it further to 44g. Hyun explained, "Lightweighting is also related to strength, so we are continuously conducting research and testing to reduce plastic content while maintaining strength enough to withstand shaking and deformation damage during distribution."

PET bottle manufacturing process of Jeju Samdasoo.

Along with PET bottle lightweighting, the company is pouring efforts into developing PET bottles using recycled materials. PET bottles used for bottled water have high resource circulation value and can be recycled in two ways. First, Mechanical Recycling PET (MR-PET) is made by collecting PET bottles, washing them, and shredding them into flakes for reproduction. This method maintains the plastic structure and regenerates the original plastic through separation and washing processes. The other method, Chemical Recycling PET (CR-PET), involves shredding collected PET bottles and chemically decomposing them before repolymerizing into PET. The post-decomposition process is the same as making new plastic from petroleum.

Currently, both methods are undergoing technological development and field applicability testing. A prototype product using CR-PET was unveiled in September last year. However, since the depolymerization raw materials required for chemical decomposition and recombination of plastic are imported, the current recycled material ratio is about 5%. Ultimately, for CR-PET to be commercialized and popularized, a mass production system for chemically recycled raw materials must be established. Hyun said, "We are working on establishing a supply system for depolymerization raw materials and domestic commercialization of chemical recycling core technology through building a resource circulation system in Jeju. We plan to collaborate with Jeju Province to build a transparent waste PET recycling facility and create an eco-friendly ecosystem that collects and recycles all transparent PET bottles generated within Jeju."

PET bottle molding process of Jeju Samdasoo empty bottles.

For MR-PET, continuous verification of production applicability and quality safety of prototypes is underway, with the goal to complete testing within the year. Hyun promised, "Since the raw materials are changing, we need to look into many more aspects. Especially because these containers hold drinking water, we will not only meet legal standards but also continuously conduct safety verification at a level that is internally acceptable."

Hyun clearly stated that eco-friendliness is an unstoppable trend. She said, "Many companies prioritize ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) as their top management value, and as a public enterprise, Jeju Development Corporation is also making relentless efforts for a sustainable earth and environment. The R&D Innovation Division will continue to focus on expanding the portfolio of eco-friendly products and advancing quality research in line with the company’s vision to reduce plastic usage by 50% (30% recycled materials + 20% lightweighting) by 2030."