SK Hynix told the Korea International Water Week 2026 in Daegu on 10 September that its Korean operations saved an average of 170,000 tons of water per day last year, and laid out a plan to reach 600 million tons of cumulative savings by 2030 through expanded reuse in semiconductor production 조선일보. The company used the three-day exhibition at Daegu EXCO, which ran from 9 to 11 September, to present a "Water Loop" programme that covers water intake, use, reuse and discharge THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media.
Key takeaways
- SK Hynix saved an average of 170,000 tons of water per day at its Korean sites in 2025, equal to the daily household use of about 550,000 people 조선일보.
- Cumulative water savings reached 303.37 million tons by the end of 2025, beating the original 264 Mt target; the company now aims for 329 Mt by the end of 2026 THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media.
- Water reuse rose 54% over four years, from 47.88 Mt in 2022 to 73.59 Mt in 2025 조선일보.
- The Icheon site produces 94,400 tons of recycled water per day through its wastewater reuse facilities, feeding air-pollution control equipment and other end uses THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media.
- The Cheongju site became the first in South Korea's semiconductor industry to import externally treated reclaimed wastewater for industrial reuse, starting in 2023 조선일보.
What happened: the 2018 task force and the 2025 scorecard
SK Hynix set up a "Water and Wastewater Reduction Task Force" in 2018 to cut consumption and push reuse in semiconductor manufacturing, the company told the Daegu show 조선일보. That programme has now delivered more than 303 Mt of cumulative savings, past the 264 Mt benchmark the group had set THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media.
On the reuse side, the company lifted volumes from 47.88 Mt in 2022 to 73.59 Mt in 2025, a 54% jump in four years, and is targeting 329 Mt of cumulative savings by the end of 2026 조선일보. Long-term, SK Hynix wants to reach 600 Mt of cumulative savings at its Korean operations by 2030 THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media.
Plant-by-plant: Icheon and Cheongju
At Icheon, the company runs a wastewater reuse facility that turns out 94,400 tons of recycled water a day, which is then piped to air pollution control equipment and other on-site users THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media. The Cheongju site took a different route in 2023, becoming the first South Korean semiconductor plant to bring in externally treated reclaimed wastewater and reuse it as industrial water 조선일보. SK Hynix says its wastewater treatment chain includes ozone oxidation, activated carbon and multistage coagulation and sedimentation, and that it is still investing in technology to strip more pollutants out before discharge or reuse THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media.
Outside the fence line, the company runs the ECOSEE citizen-science programme along Anseong Stream, where residents survey plants, birds and aquatic life to track ecological change around the planned Yongin semiconductor cluster THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media. A source from SK Hynix told the Daegu show: "We will advance our water resource management system to minimize water usage in semiconductor production and maximize the reuse of water once it has been used" 조선일보.
Specification read: what 170,000 t/day looks like in a fab reuse train
170,000 tons per day is 170,000 m³/day, or 170 MLD, of avoided freshwater draw across SK Hynix's Korean sites in 2025 조선일보. The outlet also puts the saving at the daily household use of roughly 550,000 people, which is the same order of magnitude as a mid-sized Korean city's distribution network 조선일보. Inside Icheon alone, 94,400 m³/day of reclaimed water is being pushed back into air-pollution control scrubbers and other non-potable end uses, so the relevant block is the tertiary and reuse side of the train rather than the biological stage THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media. The reported treatment chain at SK Hynix uses ozone oxidation, activated carbon, and multistage coagulation and sedimentation, which is the polishing step that typically sits after biological treatment (an MBR or MBBR is the workhorse for fab organics) and before RO/UF reuse loops or a DAF stage for solids THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media. The Cheongju move to import externally treated reclaimed water for industrial use in 2023 also shows a second procurement path: buying treated effluent from a municipal or industrial reuse hub instead of running the full reuse train in-house 조선일보. If your plant is in the 50-200 MLD range, runs fab or similar high-purity industrial flows with heavy cooling-tower and scrubber make-up demand, and faces tightening freshwater withdrawal limits, the Korean benchmark here is that on-site reuse of 50-60% of incoming flow is now the procurement target, not the upside case (general industry range, not from the sources). For buyers specifying the equipment behind that step, see our Mbr Membrane Systems hub, the Air Dust Treatment hub, and the semiconductor-focused guide DAF or Clarifier for Semiconductor Wastewater in South Hadley, MA: 2026 Factory Guide; for cross-sector context, see DAF vs Clarifier for Plastics & Rubber Wastewater in Huntington, US (2026 Factory Guide) and Industries We Serve.
FAQ
How much water is SK Hynix actually saving, in plant terms?
Across its Korean operations, SK Hynix reports an average of 170,000 m³/day of water saved in 2025, roughly the daily household use of about 550,000 people 조선일보. At Icheon alone, 94,400 m³/day of that comes back as recycled water through on-site reuse THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media.
What treatment stages does a fab reuse project of this size need?
The reported chain is ozone oxidation, activated carbon and multistage coagulation and sedimentation, sitting downstream of the biological step and upstream of the reuse loop THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media. A 50-200 MLD fab project typically pairs an MBR or MBBR for organics with a DAF or clarifier for suspended solids, then RO/UF for polishing before scrubber or cooling-tower make-up (general industry range, not from the sources).
Do I have to build the reuse plant on-site, or can I buy treated water?
SK Hynix's Cheongju site has done the second option since 2023, taking externally treated reclaimed wastewater and recycling it as industrial water, the first South Korean semiconductor plant to do so 조선일보. For most municipal-side reuse hubs, long-term take-or-pay contracts with effluent-quality guarantees typically run 10-20 years, and lead time on a new external supply is dominated by the upstream plant build, often 18-36 months (general industry range, not from the sources).
What should I ask a supplier when I am scoping a fab reuse upgrade?
Pin down the daily reuse target in m³/day and the end use (scrubber make-up, cooling tower, process rinse), the influent BOD/COD/TSS in mg/L, the discharge limits you have to meet, and whether you want a build-own-operate BOOT contract or a capex purchase; on a 50-200 MLD fab reuse package, equipment-only budgets typically land in the low tens of millions of USD with vendor commissioning in the 9-15 month range (general industry range, not from the sources). Cross-check the proposed train against the ozone, activated carbon and coagulation-sedimentation steps that SK Hynix lists for its own sites THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media.
