Nakdonggang River Basin Environmental Office and 7 Counties in Gyeongnam including Hamyang-gun
Korea Water Resources Corporation Collaborates on Entire Water Supply Operation Process
Seven counties in Gyeongnam, including Hamyang-gun, the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office, and the Korea Water Resources Corporation have established a collaborative system to prevent water supply accidents and strengthen crisis and operational management capabilities.
On the afternoon of the 27th, at the Hamyang Culture and Arts Center, the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office, Hamyang-gun, six other counties in Gyeongnam, and the Korea Water Resources Corporation participated in launching the ‘Water Supply Operation Support Council’ to enhance expertise in water supply facility operations and advance the water supply accident response system, and signed the ‘Agreement to Strengthen Cooperation in Water Supply Facility Operations.’
The seven counties, including Hamyang-gun, which signed the agreement, all operate small-scale local water supply systems serving populations of less than 100,000, making it difficult to secure long-term expertise in water supply facility operations.
Group photo of the water supply operation support agreement ceremony among 7 counties in Gyeongnam, Hamyang-gun.
Furthermore, as climate crises such as droughts, heatwaves, and heavy rains have become more apparent recently, the risk factors for unexpected water supply accidents, such as larva outbreaks and flooding of water supply facilities, have increased.
This agreement was prepared as a solution to overcome these situations, with a consensus that cooperation between institutions in operating water supply facilities is necessary.
The institutions that signed the agreement agreed to pool their efforts through the ‘Water Supply Operation Support Council’ to strengthen expertise and capabilities in water supply operations and to jointly respond to water supply accidents.
The main contents of the agreement include that the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office and the Korea Water Resources Corporation will provide manuals on water supply accident response and conduct training for local governments to enhance expertise in water supply operations. They will also facilitate cross-visits to water purification plants and tours of advanced purification plants to enable mutual benchmarking of excellent operational cases among institutions.
In addition, in the event of a water supply accident, the institutions plan to jointly utilize crisis response resources such as water treatment chemicals, emergency water supply (bottled water, water trucks, water supply connections, etc.), and restoration materials to significantly strengthen initial accident response capabilities.
Moreover, they plan to conduct joint simulation training regularly for different types of water supply accidents and provide local governments with cause analysis and recurrence prevention measures after accidents to improve mid- to long-term accident response capabilities.
Jin Byeong-yeong, the mayor of Hamyang-gun, said, “The Water Supply Operation Support Council recognizes the difficulties faced by county-level water service operators and is a collaborative case to overcome them. Through cooperation between institutions, we will enable residents to enjoy tap water more stably.”
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