"Even Cold Tap Water Feels Warm"... Flood of Shared Experiences Amid 40°C Heatwave

As stifling heatwaves of around 40°C continue day after day in South Gyeongsang Province, the temperature of tap water supplied to households is also rising accordingly.

A resident living in Seongsan-gu, Changwon, shared that they recently noticed the tap water becoming noticeably lukewarm.

They explained that a few evenings ago, while trying to wash tomatoes by turning on the kitchen sink faucet, the water felt uncomfortably lukewarm, prompting them to mix in cold water from a water purifier to rinse the tomatoes.

Recently, Threads has seen a succession of posts sharing similar experiences of tap water feeling lukewarm even when turning on the cold water.

Two days ago, a post read, "While doing the dishes in Changwon, I turned the handle all the way to the cold side, but lukewarm water kept coming out."

This post drew a flurry of comments such as, "I thought it was only my house," "I was taking a hot shower and turned it to the cold side because it was too hot, but hot water kept coming out," and "I have to wash vegetables with water from the purifier."

Today (the 3rd), in some cities and counties in South Gyeongsang Province, including Changwon which uses river water such as the Nakdong River as its raw water source, the temperature of tap water being supplied after intake and purification is rising due to the actual impact of the heatwave on river water temperatures.

Except for bank-filtration water (a method of drawing river water filtered beneath the river's sand layer rather than from the surface), the temperature of water produced at Changwon-area water purification plants using Nakdong River water as a raw source reached around 32°C as of the end of last month.

The water temperature, which was around 9°C back in March at the beginning of spring, has surged significantly due to the heatwave.

It is known that some cities and counties in the province that draw surface water from rivers are experiencing similar situations amid the heatwave.

As the heatwave heats up the river water, the raw water temperature itself rises, and during the purification process, the water temperature increases further as it stays in outdoor sedimentation basins and is exposed to sunlight.

During the water supply process, the temperature can rise even more as the tap water travels through underground pipes affected by geothermal heat.

An official from Changwon City stated, "Tap water temperatures inherently tend to be heavily influenced by air temperatures, so they vary somewhat by season," adding, "However, because this year's heatwave is exceptionally severe, the water temperature seems to have risen much higher than usual."

The official further explained, "Since there are no regulations regarding water temperature, which is not a water quality item subject to strict legal management, water purification plants do not have technical cooling devices."

An official from South Gyeongsang Province also said, "Generally speaking, because air temperatures are high during the summer, complaints about lukewarm water do come up in some cities and counties," and added, "Once tap water leaves the purification plant, it is stored in distribution reservoirs before going to individual homes, and temperatures can rise during this process because it is summer."
 
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.