Experts Warn "Bottled Water is Risky"... Is Tap Water Safe to Drink? [News SeolCham]

(39) Is Tap Water Safe to Drink?
Water Quality Tested Against 59 Standards, but Aging Pipes Pose Problems
Bottled Water Sales in Korea Started from the 1988 Olympics

Editor's Note'Seolcham' is a newly coined term meaning to refer to the explanation for more details. In [News Seolcham], we aim to pinpoint and explain in more detail the parts of the news that require facts or explanations.

As it became known that microplastics were detected in more than 90% of bottled water products distributed domestically, concerns about drinking water have increased. Although the government is working to improve the perception of tap water, many people still feel uneasy about drinking tap water as is. Is it safe to drink tap water?

Tap water undergoes a purification process and meets drinking water standards. Korean tap water is drawn from sources such as rivers and dams and treated according to 59 standards, making it safe to drink as is. Those who have lived abroad and experienced so-called water adjustment would have felt that the quality of Korean tap water is relatively good. Korea is also included in the list of 'countries with safe tap water' provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, if the water pipes are old, water quality cannot be guaranteed. Water pipes are buried and used for a long time, and if the internal coating of the pipes peels off, rust can easily occur, and various foreign substances or microorganisms may mix into the water. This is exactly what citizens are concerned about. Although tap water that has undergone purification is clean, contaminated water can flow into homes through old water pipes. In fact, in the 2021 survey on tap water drinking conditions conducted by the Ministry of Environment targeting 72,460 households in 161 local governments nationwide, 27.8% of respondents answered that old water pipes should be replaced to ensure tap water safety.

Local governments are conducting replacement projects for old water pipes to ensure safe tap water. Seoul has launched a large-scale maintenance project to replace about 3,000 km of old water pipes by 2040. Until last year, 207.4 km, which is 6.75% of the targeted water pipes, were replaced, and this year, 62.5 km sections are planned to be replaced. In addition, Gyeonggi Province, Daegu City, and others are actively supporting the replacement of old water pipes.

The occasional problem of midge larvae increases distrust in tap water. From 2020 to 2021, midge larvae issues in tap water emerged in various places nationwide, including Seoul, Incheon, and Busan, causing distrust in drinking it. The larvae found at that time were reported to have entered through the treatment process in some water purification plants and flowed into homes through water pipes. The Ministry of Environment supports the installation of filtration devices and other equipment at purification plants in each local government to prevent tap water larvae.

When Did Korea Start Buying Water?

Korea began buying water about 30 years ago. Nowadays, there is even a profession called 'water sommelier' who evaluates the taste of water, but previously, the idea of buying water did not exist, and most households used tap water or groundwater.

Bottled water was first officially sold in Korea during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. However, the sales were limited to foreign athletes participating in the games or foreign tourists visiting the Olympics, so ordinary citizens could not buy bottled water. Even this was only sold temporarily during the Olympic period, and afterward, bottled water sales were banned for reasons such as 'creating social class discord.' As an exception, bottled water was supplied to U.S. military bases from 1976.

Water bottle. Photo by Pixabay

Bottled water sales were officially permitted in April 1994. In the early 1990s, phenol leaked from factories into the Nakdong River, the water source for Daegu, Busan, and other Yeongnam regions, increasing public distrust in tap water. Various incidents occurred, including detection of heavy metals in tap water, and many citizens secretly purchased bottled water illegally. Bottled water companies, which had only sold to exporters or foreigners residing in Korea, filed lawsuits in court. Their argument was that choosing clean water to drink is part of citizens' pursuit of happiness, and selling bottled water is a business autonomy guaranteed by the constitution. Eventually, in 1994, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the bottled water companies, allowing bottled water sales to begin.

The domestic bottled water market, which was worth about 1 trillion won in 2020, grew to 2.3 trillion won last year, and related brands increased to about 300. However, bottled water, once known as safe and clean water, has recently been embroiled in microplastic controversies. Microplastics generally refer to plastics with a diameter of 1 to 5 nm (nanometers; 1 nm is one-billionth of a meter).

A research team led by Albert Lowenfels, Professor Emeritus at New York Medical College, USA, warned last month in a commentary in the British medical journal 'World Health' that although about one million bottles of bottled water are consumed worldwide every minute, bottled water cannot be considered safer than tap water. The research team added that various contaminants such as microplastics, phthalates, and alkylphenols were found in some bottled water samples analyzed in previous studies, which may increase the risk of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.