Ulsan Tap Water Brand 'Goraesu' Enters Full-Scale Bottled Production for Disaster Emergencies

【Financial News Ulsan = Choi Su-sang】 Ulsan Metropolitan City has begun full-scale production of Goraesu, its own bottled tap water brand. The bottled water undergoes monthly testing for 60 water-quality criteria to ensure its safety and is supplied during disasters, water outages, other emergencies, festivals, and events.
According to the Ulsan Metropolitan City Waterworks Headquarters on the 10th, full-scale production of Goraesu bottled water began in July. The latest bottled-water production equipment has been installed at Cheonsang Water Purification Plant in Beomseo-eup, Ulju County. The bottled water is available in two sizes—1.8 liters and 400 milliliters—with daily production of 2,500 and 5,000 bottles, respectively.
The bottled water is not sold to the general public. It is used exclusively for disaster preparedness and promotional purposes.
It was promptly supplied to mountain villages in Ulju County, Ulsan, where drinking-water supplies were cut off after groundwater was depleted by an extreme drought caused by climate change in July and August, providing significant assistance.
It is also provided as emergency drinking water during water outages, groundwater contamination, and other emergencies. Goraesu bottled water is currently being supplied to residents of Newoa-ri, Duseo-myeon, Ulju County, where groundwater has been contaminated by illegal soil filling containing hazardous substances.
To prepare for such disasters, the Ulsan Metropolitan City Waterworks Headquarters has produced 20,000 bottles in advance and stored them in a warehouse at Cheonsang Water Purification Plant. The maximum storage period is six months.
To ensure the water-quality safety of the bottled water, the Waterworks Headquarters conducts monthly tests on the bottled water produced in July against 60 statutory drinking-water quality criteria. The water passed the tests in both August and September. It is also being tested for six additional hazardous substances not included in tap-water quality standards: uranium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella, Salmonella, fecal streptococci, and sulfite-reducing anaerobic spore-forming bacteria. If no problems arise for one year, the storage period will be extended to one year, the same as that for ordinary bottled water.
Members of the public will be able to sample Goraesu bottled water at local festivals and various events held in October.
An official from the Ulsan Metropolitan City Waterworks Headquarters said, "We are examining Goraesu bottled tap water even more thoroughly than required by statutory standards so that citizens can drink it with confidence whenever they need it." The official added, "We will continue to provide tap water in Ulsan that citizens can trust and drink through meticulous water-quality management from production to supply."
[email protected] Choi Su-sang Reporter