Gwangju City Councilor Park Mijeong: "Cause of Ground Subsidence"
Need for Efforts to Modernize Aging Water Supply Facilities
As Gwangju City's water supply fees are set to increase starting from the December billing cycle, concerns have been raised about the need to boost investment in the modernization of aging pipelines.
On the 5th, Park Mi-jung, a member of the Gwangju City Council (Democratic Party, Dong-gu 2), stated during the budget review of the Gwangju Waterworks Headquarters, "Water supply fees will increase by an average of 9% annually until 2027," adding, "It is necessary to expand investment in replacing aging water pipes to improve the water loss rate, which is the lowest among the seven major metropolitan cities."
As of 2024, the water loss rates of the seven major metropolitan cities are as follows: Seoul 95.3%, Daegu 94.7%, Busan 93.1%, Daejeon 92.8%, Incheon 90.8%, Ulsan 89.6%, and Gwangju 88.9%, with Gwangju having the lowest rate.
The water loss rate refers to the percentage of water that reaches households; the more aging water pipes there are, the more frequent leaks occur, causing the water loss rate to drop. A low water loss rate means that a significant amount of water is leaking underground along the way.
There are a total of 4,104 km of water supply pipelines buried underground in Gwangju. About 50% of these are aging pipes over 20 years old, and a detailed investigation found that 229 km require maintenance and are currently being repaired.
The city plans to gradually increase water supply fees by an average of 9% annually from December this year through 2027 to bring them in line with other cities and provinces. The cumulative revenue increase from the fee hike is expected to reach 104 billion KRW by 2027 compared to last year.
The Gwangju Waterworks Headquarters has allocated a budget of 17.3 billion KRW for next year, an increase of 2.3 billion KRW from the previous year, to improve the water loss rate. The scale of aging pipeline maintenance will increase by 5 km from 30 km this year to 35 km next year.
Councilor Park emphasized, "Aging water and sewage pipes cause water waste due to leaks and ground subsidence," adding, "Although some aging pipes are being repaired, the number of aging pipes is increasing over time, so preparation is necessary."
She continued, "As seen in last year's leak accident at Deoknam Water Purification Plant, one of the causes was the overall aging of Gwangju's water supply facilities," urging, "Since water fees have been raised significantly, special efforts should be made to modernize the facilities."
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