-
2023. July VOL. 664
- 2023. July VOL. 664
- ENG
-
2023. July VOL. 664
Various trends related to increased water demand over the past few years indicate
that stable water supply is becoming conspicuously difficult.
The rapidly changing industrial development, world population’s growth, and abnormal weather conditions
such as droughts and floods are increasing global water consumption by 1% per year. Among them,
difficulties in developing water resources on a large scale are expected to reduce the capability
of dams’ water supply continuously due to the sedimentation and deterioration of reservoir.
UNESCO expects such situation to continue until 2050, implying that we are facing a water crisis.
Accordingly, the UN recognizes the global water crisis and calls for continuous investment to overcome it.
In addition, the necessity of water storage is being raised to resolve the imbalance in water supply and demand,
and seawater desalination and reuse of sewage water are being promoted
not only in the Middle East countries that suffer from water shortages but also in the US, Singapore,
and Europe. Global companies are required to make efforts to respond to the environment
as well as information disclosure, and there is a need to secure additional water storages.
In fact, global companies such as Google and Microsoft are taking strategic measures to reuse water resources,
secure alternative water resources, minimize water consumption, and focus on water management throughout their water supply network.
1. Bird’s-eye View of Daesan Coastal Seawater Desalination Plant
2. Construction Site of Daesan Coastal Seawater Desalination Plant
3. Dredging Work for Intake Facility of Daesan Coastal Seawater Desalination Project
In Korea, precipitation is concentrated in summer; about 63% of the country is mountainous, and the steep stream slope causes rainwater to run off all at once. In addition, water availability is low during the dry seasons of winter and spring, and the frequency of droughts is also increasing due to climate change. Even though the available water resources are not abundant, there has been no inconvenience so far thanks to the government and K-water’s efforts to develop water resources and expand the infrastructure of waterworks. As the usage of water resources is highly dependent on dams and rivers, however, it is necessary to secure sustainable water resources by advancing the management of currently operating dams and building water supply infrastructure. In addition, as a large amount of water is required across all industries including the semiconductor industry, the development of alternative water resources must be carried out to supply water continuously. Because water supply through alternative water resources is not dependent on precipitation, we can respond to climate change and supplement the existing water supply system centered on dams and rivers.
The first plan to secure alternative water resources is the reuse of treated sewage water.
Treated sewage water can be used by treating the effluent water of the existing sewage treatment plants for residents,
industries, agriculture, landscaping, and river maintenance.
The reutilization rate of sewage compared to wastewater flow in Korea continues to increase,
and K-water supplies public water by operating the reutilization facility with capacity of 137,000 tons per day in three locations:
Asan, Chilgok, and Pohang. Recently, the project to build the Yeosu Treated Sewage Water Reutilization Plant
with capacity of 50,000 tons per day has begun, and it is scheduled to be completed in 2025.
In addition, through cooperation with Samsung Electronics for vitalizing sewage reutilization,
Samsung Electronics plans to contribute to freezing its water consumption at the level of 2021 until 2030.
The second plan is seawater desalination, which is the process of removing the solute such as salt from seawater
and turning it into fresh water for use as various types of water.
Accordingly, K-water is carrying out the seawater desalination project in the Daesan coastal industrial area from 2020.
After finishing its construction as Korea’s largest seawater desalination plant by 2024, the Daesan coastal industrial area
plans to supply 100,000 tons of water for industries per day.
The third plan is to reuse hot wastewater. The Daesan coastal industrial area,
where seawater desalination is already in progress, requires more than 130,000 tons of water per day to create
a new industrial complex besides seawater desalination. K-water’s plan to secure additional industrial water is the reuse
of hot wastewater, which refers to the discharge to the sea of the water used to cool the heat generated
during the production process of an industrial complex. By purifying this water for use as an alternative water resource,
K-water can provide stable water supply, reduce its operating energy by using the temperature of the water,
and minimize construction costs because production and supply can be combined in an industrial complex.
As such, K-water’s various alternative water resources are emerging as eco-friendly alternative resources
in addition to water supply by minimizing the impacts on the marine ecosystem through the reuse of water
that could easily be thrown away.
Lastly, groundwater detention dams are considering a way of securing alternative water resources.
The groundwater detention dam is an eco-friendly technology that secures an additional water resource
by storing groundwater through the installation of artificial barriers in the underground sand and gravel layers
so as to provide stable water supply to islands and inland areas that are vulnerable to water supply and
which suffer from frequent water shortages.
K-water plays an important role in solving drought problems by installing groundwater detention dams
on islands including Daeijakdo island in Ongjin-gun, Anmado island in Yeonggwang-gun, and Bogildo island
in Wando-gun for the smooth supply of water resources. From 2022 in particular,
in order to solve serious drought problems, K-water began on December 26, 2022 the early discharge operation to a groundwater
detention dam on Bogildo Island whose construction was scheduled to be completed by June 2023,
supplying a total of 157,000 tons of water to the Bogil Reservoir as the existing water supply source;
thus proving that K-water is a ‘drought problem solver’ for some 8,000 residents.
K-water will continue to take the lead in securing sustainable water resources by additionally
installing groundwater detention dams tailored to local conditions in preparation for droughts caused by climate change.
