By 2025 K-Water's digital twin water management platform covered 56 dams and weirs, four years after it was first applied in the Seomjin River basin in 2021. The platform tests up to 48 release scenarios at once, pairing 8 rainfall cases with 6 release options.
Tested by the July 2025 storms
Before the 2025 flood season, K-Water cleared more than three times the 2.18 billion m³ of design flood-control space at its 20 multipurpose dams. When up to 519 mm of rain fell between July 17 and 19, 2025, 18 multipurpose dams held the inflow without releasing water through their gates.
Autonomous treatment at 43 plants
The same approach now runs water treatment. K-Water applies autonomous operation at 43 multi-regional treatment plants and reported about KRW 11 billion of operating cost savings in 2025. The Hwaseong pilot, which supplies 260,000 m³ a day, cut power use by 10% and chemical use by 14%. Savings figures vary by source: K-Water's chief executive cited about KRW 9.4 billion a year in a February 2026 interview.
National ranking and exports
In June 2026 the Ministry of Finance and Economy ranked the digital twin platform first and the autonomous treatment plant third among 62 innovation projects from 31 public corporations. K-Water has offered the platform abroad since a Saudi Arabian project began in July 2024, and it signed a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI in May 2026.
The limit
The savings are small against consolidated revenue of KRW 4,451.5 billion in FY 2024, and bulk water still recovered only 78.1% of its cost in 2025.
What K-Water's digital control means for its finances, its climate infrastructure and its leadership transition, and which milestones to watch to 2030, are covered in the full analysis. The full report, Water Utility of the Future: K-Water, is available for USD 499. For a free overview, read the K-Water Utility Snapshot.