Groundwater-Dependent Schools, Care Facilities and 221 Educational/Welfare Institutions to Undergo Full Water Quality Surveys

[Suwon Ilbo=Park Nohun Reporter] Following last year's initiative, Gyeonggi Province will conduct full water quality surveys starting June 15 on all 221 educational and welfare facilities in the province—including childcare centers, schools, and nursing homes—that use groundwater as drinking water.

Gyeonggi Province conducted the nation's first full water quality survey last year on 299 educational and welfare facilities in the province using groundwater as drinking water, and completed improvements for 46 non-compliant facilities by supplying tap water and using bottled water. In this process, 37 facilities were deemed compliant but switched to tap water supply and bottled water due to long-term management concerns.

Accordingly, this year's inspection targets comprise 221 facilities across 22 cities and counties, including 216 facilities continuing to use groundwater as drinking water, 4 facilities that were omitted from last year's survey, and 1 facility that began using groundwater as drinking water this year.

The province plans to implement follow-up measures for non-compliant facilities identified in the inspection—similar to last year—by changing drinking water sources to tap water or bottled water, or converting groundwater use from drinking water to general household or agricultural use.

The survey will be conducted in three phases from June 15 to October 30. The first survey, conducted from June 15 to 26, will test the content of six basic drinking water items including general bacteria and total coliform bacteria.

For facilities non-compliant in the first survey, drinking water use will be discontinued and facility improvement orders issued, followed by a second survey from August 17 to 28. The survey method will be identical to the first phase.

Facilities non-compliant in the second survey will face discontinued drinking water use and facility improvement orders, followed by a third survey from October 12 to 30. This phase will test all 47 drinking water parameters, and non-compliant facilities will undergo facility improvement orders and administrative measures.

Lee Young-jong, head of Gyeonggi Province's Water Resources Bureau, stated, "In pursuit of safe and clean water welfare for Gyeonggi Province, we will do our utmost to conduct full facility inspections this year as well, and prioritize management of non-compliant facilities to ensure vulnerable populations can safely and confidently access groundwater supply."