• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2009

Under the supply-oriented policy, efficiency and rationale have not been fully considered in planning of water supply facilities in Korea. As a case, this study shows that large-size systems are suffering from overcapacity problem of water treatment plants, and thus discusses what options should be applied to deal with inefficiency. Water demand of large-size systems has suddenly decreased for the last 10 years while water demand has been often assumed to increase at a regular rate in planning of plants according to excess capacity hypothesis. This inconsistency led to a serious overcapacity. In 2006, total excess capacity of nine large-size systems was more than 1.2 times as large as maximum daily demand of total customers in Seoul. However, their options are expected to stay ex post facto. To prepare the risk of overcapacity, and draw large benefits out of the plants, the authors and other professionals in Korea should further discuss the more adaptive method for prediction of water demand, and systems integration between a large-size system and adjoining systems.