Two Water Pipe Leaks in a Week... "Unrelated to Sinkholes"

Both Accident Sites Exceeded 'Service Life'
"Internal Coating of Water Pipes... No Rust Water
Water Leaks Onto Road During Leakage... Sinkhole Unrelated"

On Seoul city roads, water pipe leaks occurred twice within five days, causing traffic to be controlled. Although both cases involved leaks from aging water pipes, officials emphasized that these incidents are unrelated to ground subsidence (sinkholes).

According to Seoul City and the Arisu Headquarters on the 10th, repair work continued following consecutive water pipe bursts near Seodaemun Station Intersection on the 5th and near Mia Intersection the day before. Since the roads had to be excavated to repair the pipes and then covered again, traffic in the area was controlled from morning until afternoon.

On the 9th, a water pipe leak occurred near Miasageori in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. Provided by Seoul City

The reason for the water pipe bursts is 'aging.' Both water pipes had exceeded their 30-year 'service life.' Seoul City has been conducting maintenance work on water and sewage pipes that have passed their service life over several years, working in order from the oldest pipes. The pipes that burst this time were not scheduled for maintenance this year. Seoul City plans to maintain a total of 3,074 km of water pipes over 30 years old by 2040. According to data submitted by the Ministry of Environment to Kim Hyung-dong of the People Power Party, as of 2022, Seoul has the highest water pipe aging rate nationwide at 66.1%.

The Arisu Headquarters, which manages Seoul's water pipes, emphasized that the recent leak poses little risk of causing ground subsidence or 'rust water' issues. An Arisu official said, "(The burst water pipes) have internal coating, so rust water does not come out," adding, "Leaks can occur due to vulnerabilities in the external condition."

Unlike sewage pipes where leaked water seeps into the ground, leaks in water pipes cause water to gush above the ground, making it visually detectable and allowing issues to be identified before ground subsidence occurs. The official added, "When water pipes leak, water rises onto the road surface, so most leaks are detected before ground subsidence occurs," and "there is little connection to ground subsidence."

In fact, among 222 ground subsidence incidents in Seoul from 2015 to last September, 50.0% were caused by sewage pipes, which is 3.6 times higher than the 14.0% caused by water pipes. The ground subsidence incident in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, in August was also investigated to be caused by a combination of various factors such as heavy rain, heatwaves, and nearby construction, rather than issues with water or sewage pipes.