SEOUL, July 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to to effectively utilize the underground water that leaks during underground development projects, the environment ministry said Tuesday.
In 2020, there were 380,000 tons of underground water leaked each day, or 140 million tons in the whole year.
Almost all of the water, however, was wasted, and only 11 percent was used to sprinkle on roads for dust prevention.
The Ministry of Environment plans to raise the utility rate of leaked underground water to 20 percent by 2030 and 40 percent by 2050.
The ministry also plans to attempt the production of energy using leaked underground water.
Underground water has a high specific heat, making it cooler than the atmosphere during the summer and warmer in the winter, and hydrothermal energy utilizes this principle to generate power.
The ministry plans to introduce the concept of ‘underground water as a hydrothermal source’ in the Groundwater Act by next year, and hold test projects at 11 sites from 2023 to 2027.
The ministry will set up an artificial waterfall using leaked underground water to test low head, small hydropower generation.
Image Credit: Yonhap / Seoul Metropolitan Government / photonews@koreabizwire.com
