Environment ministry signs water-saving pilot with Sejong City

South Korea's environment ministry said Thursday it will sign an agreement with Sejong City and four other organisations to build a pilot model for managing facilities that consume large amounts of water, starting with two sites in the city.

The memorandum, to be signed Friday morning at Sejong City Hall, brings together Sejong City, the Korea Water Resources Corporation, the Korea Environment Corporation, Korea Midland Power and the Korea Asset Management Corporation. The pilot applies the ministry's water-consumption management guidelines to Korea Midland Power and Korea Asset Management Corporation facilities in Sejong — the first case of the guidelines being put into practice.

The ministry distributed the guidelines in December last year, setting out criteria for selecting high-consumption facilities, drawing up management plans and verifying results. Under the Water Supply and Waterworks Installation Act, local governments draw up comprehensive water demand management plans every five years, and have since pushed facilities such as power plants and large buildings to cut water use through measures including reducing leaks by managing water pressure, installing water-saving devices in sanitary facilities, and raising the reuse rate of rainwater, reclaimed water and treated sewage.

"This agreement is significant in that it promotes water conservation based on voluntary participation by institutions and raises the effectiveness of local governments' comprehensive water demand management plans," said Kim Ho-eun, the ministry's water use policy director.

Under the agreement, Sejong City will manage the agreement and verify savings, the water resources and environment corporations will provide technical support for drawing up water management plans and checking performance, and Korea Midland Power and the Korea Asset Management Corporation will carry out the projects on the ground. The parties will also connect facilities with water-saving specialist companies, known as WASCOs, when a site cannot work out improvements on its own.

The ministry will review administrative support measures, including improving the management guidelines and rewarding officials based on the results of performance verification. Kim added that the ministry will examine the results closely with the organisations involved and support efforts to spread the model to other local governments and institutions.