55.4% of Rainwater Facilities Unused, Budget Waste Criticized
Some Left Broken... Additional Construction Needed
Choi Ji-hyun, Gwangju City Council Member, Questions "Is This a Water Circulation Leading City?"

Choi Ji-hyun, Gwangju City Council member.

At the administrative audit of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council, the effectiveness of water reuse facilities in the Gwangju area came under scrutiny.

Choi Ji-hyun, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council (Democratic Party, Gwangsan 1), pointed out during the administrative audit of the Gwangju Climate and Environment Bureau on the 12th, “Gwangju City has invested a huge budget to install rainwater utilization facilities, but their utilization rate is low and management is poor.”

Councilor Choi stated, “As of last year, among 74 buildings equipped with rainwater utilization facilities, 41 sites (55.4%) have an annual usage rate of less than 5% compared to the capacity of the storage tanks, and 32.4% of the public institutions with installed facilities do not use them at all,” emphasizing, “The causes of low facility utilization must be identified to increase the water reuse rate.”

She continued, “Some facilities have been left broken for years, and some require additional construction because their intended use was not sufficiently considered during the design phase,” adding, “Due to a lack of coordination between facility installation and usage plans, some facilities are not fulfilling their intended purposes properly.”

Councilor Choi urged, “Systematic management and overall improvement are necessary to enhance the efficiency of water reuse facilities,” and requested, “Since Gwangju aims to be a leading city in water circulation, please make efforts to strengthen facility management and improve utilization.”

Rainwater utilization facilities are systems that collect and treat rainwater falling on building rooftops and other surfaces for use. According to the “Act on the Promotion and Support of Water Reuse,” these facilities are installed and operated in major public institutions, multi-use facilities such as apartment complexes, and other places with high public use.