On 11 September 2026, Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division set out a roadmap at Korea International Water Week (KIWW) 2026 in Daegu to reuse approximately 330,000 tonnes per day of treated wastewater at its Korean fabrication plants, framing the project as the largest such scheme among global chipmakers 아시아경제 Seoul Economic Daily. The same reporting day also brought fresh industry-wide warnings that semiconductor water demand is on track to more than double by 2030, sharpening the procurement picture for water reuse systems BigGo Finance.
Key takeaways
- Samsung Electronics Semiconductor unveiled its water reuse roadmap at KIWW 2026, held at EXCO Daegu from 9–11 September 2026 Seoul Economic Daily.
- The company reused approximately 108 million tonnes of water across its domestic sites in the prior year, equivalent to about two months of Seoul household demand 아시아경제.
- Samsung plans to draw about 120,000 t/day from Hwaseong and Osan, and 210,000 t/day from Suwon, for a combined 330,000 t/day of treated wastewater reused as industrial water Seoul Economic Daily.
- Full-scale reuse is targeted for 2030, with the supplier-built pipeline and permit process already under way under a 2024 Gyeonggi-region agreement with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment Seoul Economic Daily.
- Samsung's DS Division says it still intends to cap natural water intake at 2021 levels even as fab demand is projected to more than double by 2030 BigGo Finance.
What happened
Samsung Electronics Semiconductor said on 11 September 2026 that it had presented its water management approach at KIWW 2026 at EXCO Daegu, anchored on the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" framework, combining process-side cuts with on-site purification and reuse of already-used water 아시아경제. According to the company's latest sustainability report, Samsung reused approximately 108 million tonnes of water across its domestic locations in the prior year, a volume the report compares to roughly two months of Seoul household consumption 아시아경제.
The most concrete disclosure concerned a public-private partnership to take treated wastewater from public sewage facilities and route it through dedicated pipelines back into Samsung fabs for reuse as industrial water. The plan covers about 120,000 t/day from Hwaseong and Osan and 210,000 t/day from Suwon, with water in each area piped directly to Samsung sites for chip manufacturing Seoul Economic Daily. A company official said the project is being advanced through feasibility reviews and permit approvals under a 2024 first-phase agreement covering semiconductor plants in the Gyeonggi region, signed with what is now the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and Gyeonggi Province, and is targeted to begin full-scale operation in 2030 Seoul Economic Daily. The same official added that the start date is being reviewed for acceleration and that the strategic target is to cap total water intake at 2021 levels Seoul Economic Daily.
Dr. Koo Tae-wan, who oversees water resource management in Samsung's DS Division, told KIWW 2026: "In the past, water was not considered such a critical issue when building semiconductor fabs, but the situation has completely changed," and described water resources available to a nation as having reached certain limits BigGo Finance. BigGo Finance's same-day reporting also projected Samsung's water demand to more than double by 2030 against 2021 on the back of advanced process expansion, while noting that the company is still pursuing reclaimed-water supply to its Giheung, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek sites BigGo Finance. At a separate KIWW session, Korea Water Resources Association president Yoo Cheol-sang warned that the Yongin semiconductor complex requires water infrastructure on the scale of a new city the size of Incheon BigGo Finance.
Beyond the fab intake numbers, Samsung's KIWW 2026 booth highlighted water quality management at its discharge points and "Water Positive" and "Nature Positive" initiatives, including work with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and Korea Water Resources Corporation to enhance the Shinpung Wetland upstream of Jangheung Dam for biodiversity and water-quality returns, and the reported reappearance of otters in the Osancheon near its sites following improved water quality management 아시아경제.
Specification read
The headline figure — 330,000 tonnes per day of treated wastewater targeted for industrial reuse across Hwaseong, Osan and Suwon — translates to 330,000 m³/day at the plant boundary Seoul Economic Daily. Using the same outlet's "household water for more than 1 million people a day" framing, the population-equivalent is roughly 1,000,000 PE, a useful buyer-side cross-check when sizing equalisation, biological and disinfection tanks Seoul Economic Daily. The reuse profile is industrial water for semiconductor manufacturing, so the relevant treatment train on the receiving end is screening → primary clarification → biological (A2O/MBR/MBBR/SBR) → tertiary filtration → advanced oxidation and/or RO polishing → disinfection, with a side-stream concentrate handling step such as DAF or ZLD where recovery rates approach the 70–90% range that fabs typically require (general industry range, not from the sources). The event itself bears on the front of that train — the upstream municipal-to-industrial reclaimed-water interface and the dedicated pipeline tie-ins — rather than the on-tool polishing step. Two procurement signals are explicit in the reporting: reuse volumes are being scaled up, and process improvements are being pursued in parallel to drive down raw-water demand Seoul Economic Daily 아시아경제. For operators, the cluster-page framing of municipal-to-industrial reuse schemes is laid out on our Municipal hub, and the membrane side of the reuse train is covered in our Mbr Membrane Systems catalogue.
If your plant receives treated municipal wastewater at roughly 200,000–400,000 m³/day for industrial reuse at a semiconductor or similar high-purity site, with strict intake consent limits, a tight conductivity/TOC envelope on the reuse line, and 2030 as your full-scale reuse target, the Samsung disclosure is the reference scope: it shows where a buyer has to lock in long-lead pipeline and permitting work now to keep pace with a doubling of fab water demand by 2030 BigGo Finance Seoul Economic Daily.
FAQ
How much treated wastewater will Samsung reuse, and from where?
Approximately 330,000 tonnes per day in total, split as 120,000 t/day from Hwaseong and Osan and 210,000 t/day from Suwon, piped directly to Samsung fabs and reused as industrial water Seoul Economic Daily.
When is full-scale reuse expected to start?
The company has set 2030 as the target for full-scale use of recycled wastewater, with feasibility reviews and permit approvals already under way under a 2024 Gyeonggi-region agreement, and is reviewing whether to move the start date earlier Seoul Economic Daily.
What is the indicative price and lead time for a 200,000 m³/day industrial reuse train?
Capex and lead time for a reuse train of this scale are project-specific and are not stated in the sources. As a class range, large municipal-to-industrial reuse schemes of this size typically run from low- to mid-hundreds of millions of US dollars and 36–60 months from FID to commissioning (general industry range, not from the sources).
Why is water being treated as a fab-siting constraint now?
Industry speakers at KIWW 2026 argued that, unlike power, water cannot be generated on demand, so process-side conservation, wastewater reuse and treated-sewage use are becoming prerequisites for new fab capacity rather than optional sustainability add-ons BigGo Finance.
