A worm-like organism that was discovered in tap water at an apartment in Seoul’s Jung Ward at around 11 p.m. on July 19, 2020, is seen in this photo provided by the resident. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 20 (Korea Bizwire) — A growing number of worm-like creatures have been reported in tap water in Seoul, Busan, Gyeonggi Province and other parts of the nation over the past week after residents of Incheon, west of the capital, made the first complaints about weird-looking organisms in their drinking water about two weeks ago.
Since July 9, authorities in Incheon, 50 kilometers west of Seoul, have received nearly 600 complaints of larva-like organisms being discovered in the city’s tap water. Of those, the city’s water officials collected larva-like creatures from 166 cases.
Incheon officials suspect that winged insects may have laid eggs in water treatment facilities and larvae produced from them may have made their way into households through the water pipe.
Since about a week ago, authorities of Seoul, Busan, Gyeonggi and other places have been flooded with similar reports of worm-like organisms in their tap water, prodding Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun to issue an emergency instruction on Monday for inspection of all water purification plants nationwide.
Chung ordered Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae by phone to immediately address the mounting public concerns about tap water safety.
“The environment ministry and local governments should join hands to swiftly conduct investigations and transparently disclose all relevant information to help ease public unrest,” Chung was quoted as telling Cho.
The prime minister also ordered an emergency inspection of all 484 water purification plants nationwide to cope with the problem.
In Seoul, water authorities examined local waterworks after a resident at Seoul’s central Jung Ward reported discovery of a 1-centimeter long organism late Sunday.
The person who reported the case said that the organism had a thickness of a hair and was moving when found.
Officials concluded that it is unlikely the organism came in through water pipes.
“A microscopic observation of water samples conducted by the Seoul Water Institute showed that no debris or larva were found,” the city government said following a study of water samples collected from nine spots at the resident’s building.
They added that the building’s maintenance manager suspected the “bug” to have grown in a shower drain, citing a similar case reported a month earlier.
An additional probe of the water purification plant that supplies water to the building showed no issues, they added. Authorities said they have completed inspections of six water purification facilities and 101 water reservoirs in the city last week.
An official inspects a water purification plant in eastern Seoul on July 20, 2020, after a report of a worm-like creature in the district. (Yonhap)
The government of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, said it has received 94 complaints of larva-like organisms in tap water from 21 cities and counties. It has launched an inspection into 53 purification facilities in the province.
Siheung, 26 kilometers southwest of Seoul, reported the most complaints with 14 cases, followed by Hwaseong, 42 km southwest of the capital, with 12 cases and Bucheon, just west of Seoul, with 10 cases.
The provincial government also rules out the possibility of such creatures originating from water purification plants, assuming that they may have entered homes via apartment water tanks, sewers or other channels.
In Busan, municipal officials said they have received 11 complaints of organisms appearing to be larvae in tap water over the past week and confirmed the existence of worms in four cases.
They also said the possibility of those worms originating from water plants is very low and those creatures may have come from private water tanks or sewers.
Indeed, an apartment house in Anyang, just south of Seoul, reported a worm-like creature in its tap water but authorities later confirmed that it came from the home’s drainage.
In Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, an apartment resident posted a complaint of larva-like organism on social media but municipal authorities failed to find anything strange in the apartment house’s tap water and the district’s purification plant.
(Yonhap)
