Korean Job Discussion Forums

[eamo]

The tap water in Bundang tastes fine. I still don't drink it in any quantities though. Mineral water is just nicer and cooler. Cooking and coffee is all with tap water.

My last 2 neighborhoods in Seoul had the most foul water. Couldn't even shower without smelling it.

Can you believe how ajummas only drink tepid water? They never take just cold from the water-cooler. They always add a bit of hot. Even in the summer!!!

[William Beckerson]

[hojucandy]

i drink tap water all the time.... no problems.

what's the matter with it?

incidentally - i am in ansan - outskirts of seoul.

[peemil]

I do... Whatever doesn't kill you can only make you stronger...

[Real Reality]

39 people arrested for polluting Seoul's reservoir

The prosecution said yesterday it indicted 39 restaurant owners for contaminating a huge reservoir near Seoul with untreated sewage and erecting buildings on its shore without permission from the government.
The Seoul District Public Prosecutors' Office also said it imposed fines of 3 million won to 10 million won on another 35 restaurant owners on the same charges.

The restaurant owners are accused of dumping untreated wastewater into the Paldang Reservoir 24 km east of Seoul and illegally building parking lots adjacent to their establishments.

The man-made reservoir is the main source of tap water for the Seoul metropolitan area.

The Korea Herald
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2002/11/04/200211040039.asp
Note: You may need to register to see the article.

Firms cited on environment rules
Thousands of businesses in Korea were found to have violated environmental regulations last year, the government said yesterday.

The Ministry of Environment said 2,376 firms, almost 6 percent of the more than 42,000 companies it inspected from last September to December, violated environmental regulations.

Of the more than 2,000 companies cited, 1,114 were ordered to suspend operations or close their doors, the ministry said. Those firms were found to have either operated without pollution controls or to have exceeded pollution discharge limits.

A Doosan Electro-Materials factory in Gumi, North Gyeongsang province, was heavily criticized in the ministry report. The factory was told to suspend operations for 10 days after it failed to properly use its pollution prevention devices. Criminal charges may follow, prosecutors in Gumi said, noting that this is not the factory's first pollution-related violation. On two occasions in 1991, the factory leaked liquid phenol into the nearby Nakdong River, the source of drinking water for more than 2 million people.
JoongAng Daily
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200302/08/200302080258527579900090409041.html

Four major rivers found more contaminated

Major rivers in Korea including the Han River have become even more polluted than before with the water temperature rising and water flowing out of reservoirs decreasing. A report released by the Environment Ministry Monday on the contamination of the major rivers in March 2001 said that the biological oxygen demand (BOD) in water near Noryangjin and Kayang-dong on the Han River was 4.8 ppm and 5.1 ppm respectively, up greatly from 3.8 ppm and 3.9 ppm in February.
Donga.com
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2001043006691

Korean Bases Found Guilty Of Dumping Dirty Water
The environment ministry revealed Sunday that a third of water spewed out by Korean military bases was discharged without undergoing a proper purification process.

In a written answer to a question from Representative Jeon Jae-hee, the Ministry of Environment disclosed that 63,693 tons out of the total 191,987 tons of water discharged from Korean military bases a day was dumped into the sewage system without the due purification process.
JoongAng Ilbo
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200106/17/200106172355161029900090409041.html

[Real Reality]

from peemil,
"Whatever doesn't kill you can only make you stronger"

You may not die but do you want to be infected?

Water-related diseases include those due to micro-organisms and chemicals in water people drink; diseases like schistosomiasis which have part of their lifecycle in water; diseases like malaria with water-related vectors; drowning and some injuries; and others such as legionellosis carried by aerosols containing certain micro-organisms.

Water-related diseases fact sheets

Anaemia
Arsenic
Ascariasis
Campylobacteriosis
Cholera
Cyanobacterial Toxins
Dengue and Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever
Diarrhea
Fluorosis
Guinea-Worm Disease (Dracunculiasis)
Hepatitis
Japanese Encephalitis
Lead Poisoning
Leptospirosis
Malaria
Methaemoglobinemia
Onchocerciasis (River Blindness)
Ringworm (Tinea)
Scabies
Schistosomiasis
Spinal Injury
Trachoma
Typhoid and Paratyphoid Enteric Fevers

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/diseasefact/en/

[djsmnc]

They have color cameras with cellphones and big-screen tv's here. Thus, the water must be ok!

[HardyandTiny]

How do you think all the girls stay so thin? Drink it up.

I see people drinking spring water on Namsan about 300 meters from the Grand Hyatt!

[OiGirl]

Dilution is the solution to pollution.

[Wombat]

What a bunch of wimps! I drink it ALL THE TIME in huge quantities. Never had a single problem. You should stop wasting money on bottled water, get over whatever neurosis you have and drink up!

Heh, just kidding. Do whatever you want. But seriously, I really do drink the water here. Yum.

W.

[William Beckerson]

That's why we nick-named Wombat "Squirtz"

[Guest]

nobody told me about not drinking the water when i arrived here. i found out for myself. had half a glass and felt 'toxic' for about 10 minutes. had stomach cramping for a while, but it can't be that bad, seriously.
i do drink bottled water now but don't cook with it.

[indiercj]

[The Man known as The Man]

[The Man known as The Man]