Leaky pipes cost K-water W235.9b over 5 years

About 262.48 million cubic meters of tap water leaked from local waterworks operated by Korea Water Resources Corporation, or K-water, over the past five years, with estimated losses reaching 235.9 billion won ($174 million).

The figures come from data submitted to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Ji-hye of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee by K-water. The corporation currently operates local waterworks under entrustment agreements with 23 local governments.

Annual leakage fell only 2.5 percent over the five-year period, from 53.98 million cubic meters in 2021 to 52.64 million cubic meters in 2025. Estimated losses, however, actually rose over the same period — from 47.6 billion won to 48 billion won.

This year, leaks through July totaled 33.94 million cubic meters, causing an estimated 30.8 billion won in losses. Cumulative figures from 2021 through July this year stand at 296.42 million cubic meters of leakage and 266.8 billion won in estimated losses.

Among the 23 municipalities, Paju recorded the highest estimated losses from 2021 to 2025 at 33.2 billion won. Geoje followed at 26.5 billion won, then Seosan at 20.2 billion won, Gyeonggi Province's Gwangju at 19.9 billion won, Tongyeong at 16.8 billion won, Sacheon at 16.1 billion won, Yangju at 15.9 billion won, Jeongeup at 15.3 billion won, Nonsan at 13.4 billion won and Naju at 8.8 billion won.

The top 10 municipalities together accounted for 185.9 billion won in estimated losses, or 78.8 percent of the total.

Water outage, leakage and turbidity incidents have also been on the rise.

The number of incidents climbed from 10 in 2021 to 11 each in 2022 and 2023, 13 in 2024 and 14 in 2025. Through September this year, nine incidents have been recorded — but the number of affected households has already reached 37,268, and the total time spent on shutoffs and repairs has hit 232.6 hours, both the highest figures in the past six years.

On Sept. 12, a power outage at the Sacheon water purification plant cut water supply to 17,100 households in Tongyeong and 12,700 in Goseong simultaneously. In August, heavy rainfall in Geoje left 6,535 households without water for 120 hours.

Of the 68 incidents recorded from 2021 through September this year, pipe damage caused by construction work by other agencies was the leading cause at 32 cases, or 47.1 percent. Aging pipelines accounted for 11 cases (16.2 percent) and cold-snap freeze damage for six (8.8 percent). Power outages at regional water purification plants and accidents involving regional pipelines each contributed four cases (5.9 percent).

"Since nearly half of incidents are caused by construction work by other agencies, prior consultation and on-site supervision for excavation work must be strengthened," Park said. "Investment in replacing aging pipes and reducing leakage also needs to be accelerated."