Abstract
According to a 2015 study conducted by the Ministry of Environment of Korea, municipal water is supplied to 96.1% of the total Korean population, but 3.9% of the total population (~2.14 million people) in rural myeon or villages, drink groundwater from old and/or unregistered wells that are not a part of the municipal water system. Additionally, accurate statistics are not reported without regular water quality tests, so safety measures alone are insufficient to improve water quality. In this situation, the Korean government is responsible for verifying the quality of groundwater and identifying the cause of groundwater contamination in areas with no municipal water supply. The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) under the Ministry of Environment of Korea, conducted the ‘Safe Groundwater Supply Project (SGSP)’ between 2012 and 2016 to secure groundwater quality stability in areas without the benefit of municipal water. This survey identified groundwater quality using a detailed water quality survey and gave recommendations for supplying safe groundwater and providing future improvements and countermeasures in cases of groundwater pollution. This paper presents the SGSP and consists of water quality analysis, the exploration and exploitation of drinking water facilities, the selection of a pilot project area among high-pollution areas, and improvement measures for water quality in the pilot project area.
Highlights
Korea’s municipal waterworks statistics from 2015 show that 96.1% of the total Korean population is supplied by municipal water; this leaves ~2.14 million people without [1]
730,000 people live in rural areas with no drinking water supply and predominantly use groundwater from old, unregistered wells without regular water quality tests due to cost, even though groundwater meant for drinking should be regularly inspected with a quality test twice yearly under the Groundwater Act [2]
This study summarized the Safe Groundwater Supply Project (SGSP) from 2014 to 2016, which provided free water quality inspections for people in rural areas without a municipal drinking water supply who use groundwater from old, unregistered wells without regular water quality tests due to cost
Summary
Korea’s municipal waterworks statistics from 2015 show that 96.1% of the total Korean population is supplied by municipal water; this leaves ~2.14 million people without [1]. Even factoring in the inclusion of village water supply and small water supply facilities (public water reservoir, village wells, etc.), 98.6% of the total population is served by public water supply. 730,000 people live in rural areas with no drinking water supply and predominantly use groundwater from old, unregistered wells without regular water quality tests due to cost, even though groundwater meant for drinking should be regularly inspected with a quality test twice yearly (the first term test in April–May and the second term test in September–October) under the Groundwater Act (enforcement date: December 2015) [2]. Clear and urgent surveys are needed for old, un-registered wells that have not been tested regularly.
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