Valve malfunction at purification plant causes water outage in Gwangju

Tap water overflows into roads in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Sunday due to a valve malfunction at a water purification plant. [YONHAP]

The southwestern city of Gwangju suffered a major water outage Sunday due to a valve malfunction at a water purification plant, officials said.

The valve was closed shut in the process of fixing an error in the communications system that automatically opens and closes valves, according to municipal officials.

The malfunction was detected at 6 a.m. and fixed at 5:30 p.m., but water supplies were expected to return to normal around midnight after muddy water was removed from pipelines.

Residents complained of a sudden water outage, with people ordering large amounts of drinking water from stores, and cafes, restaurants and hair salons being forced to suspend business.

The purification plant supplies water to 1 million residents of Seo District, Nam District, Gwangsan District and parts of Buk District.

A municipal official said the number of households affected by the outage was estimated at 50,000.

Yonhap