[Suwon = E-Daily Reporter Hwang Young-min ] Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae has issued administrative guidance to SamsungElectronics and SK hynix regarding water quality management for discharge from their semiconductor factories. This is the third round of administrative guidance, following measures in July to increase the reuse rate of semiconductor process water and in August to reduce wastewater discharge volumes.

On the 28th, Gyeonggi Province announced that it had issued administrative guidance to SamsungElectronics(005930)and SK hynix(000660), directing them to establish their own management standards and reduction measures to lower the concentrations of chloride and sulfate ions in wastewater discharged from semiconductor factories.

Previously, at Governor Choo’s direction, the Gyeonggi Provincial Health and Environment Research Institute conducted three rounds of water quality surveys in the area around the Jukdang Stream in Icheon, where effluent from the SK hynix plant flows. The results showed that the average concentration of chloride ions at a point 0.4 km downstream from the discharge outlet was 731 mg/L, and that of sulfate ions was 1,561 mg/L—both exceeding the levels recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for agricultural water. High concentrations of chloride and sulfate ions can potentially affect crop growth and other factors. Currently, South Korea does not have separate river water quality standards for chloride and sulfate ions.

This administrative guidance is a precautionary measure in anticipation of discharge water flowing into the Gosan Reservoir in Anseong once production at the SK hynix Yongin Semiconductor Cluster’s general industrial complex (Fab) begins in earnest. This is because the Gosam Reservoir is used for agricultural purposes. Last August, Gyeonggi Province requested that the Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Environment promptly establish permitted discharge standards for chlorine compounds and sulfur and its compounds at the SK hynix facility in Yongin.

In an official administrative guidance letter sent to both companies, the province recommended that they establish their own management standards for chlorine compounds (including chloride ions) and sulfur and its compounds (including sulfate ions) and devise measures to reduce their concentrations until the government’s permitted emission standards are established.
Governor Choo held a meeting the previous day, the 27th, to discuss pending issues related to the semiconductor industry, including the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, and called for proactive water quality management to minimize the impact of wastewater discharged from semiconductor facilities on nearby rivers and agricultural water supplies.

A Gyeonggi Province official explained, “As water usage and wastewater discharge are expected to increase with the expansion of semiconductor production facilities, we plan to monitor the government’s progress in establishing permitted discharge standards and continuously monitor water quality in nearby rivers and the Gosam Reservoir.”