Current status of Jeju special self-governing province's water infrastructure and direction for improvement
This paper investigates the current status of Jeju special self-governing province (JSSGP)’s water infrastructure and recommends directions for improvement. JSSGP relies on groundwater for most of its water resources. Recently, water usage has been steadily increasing due to the increase of residents and tourists while the quality of groundwater has been steadily worsening. Deterioration in water quality of groundwater can be seen through the increase in concentration of nitrate nitrogen and microorganisms. To overcome such problems, water consumption must be reduced by water demand management in all fields including residential and agricultural water use. The quality of water resources should be preserved through the management of pollutants. For efficient management of water resources, great efforts should be made to reduce the leakage rates in household and agricultural water, which is currently at the highest level in the country. Furthermore, diversification of water intake sources other than groundwater is needed, especially for agricultural water supply. For water and sewerage facilities, compliance with drinking water quality standards and discharge water quality standards must be achieved through the optimization of operation management. This process requires recruiting professionals, improving existing workers' expertise, and improving facilities.