[The Hwankyung Ilbo] According to the Ministry of Environment, the water supply ratio in Korea reached 98.9% in 2016, reaching the level of major industrialized countries.

161 provincial waterworks operators and one metropolitan water service provider supply tap water to 50.97 million people, or 96.4% of the total population, and the population supplied with drinking water by village water supply or small water supply facilities is 843,492 people (1.6%), and 444,465 people (0.9%) respectively.

Local residents living in the areas where tap water is not provided are 598,866 people, 1.1% of the total population, and they use individual wells.

Tap water of about 682.5 million tons (2.8 times the capacity of the Paldang dam), which accounts for 10.6% of the total tap water production per year, is being abandoned due to the aging of the water supply pipe. It is estimated that the loss is 592.2 billion won per year if converted into tap water production cost as of 2016.

The daily use of tap water per person was 287 liters, which is slightly higher than the previous year's 282 liters, indicating that the importance of water demand management becomes even greater.

The Ministry of Environment plans to expand the water supply facilities in vulnerable areas and strengthen water quality management for each water source, and to strengthen water supply facility management and demand management so that all citizens can use the water safely.

In order to reduce the amount of tap water wasted by leaks, the government plans to spend about 3 trillion won by 2028 on the modernization project of local waterworks.

“We will expand waterworks facilities and implement various policies so that we can supply reliable tap water,” the Ministry of Environment said.

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