Uruguay’s Path to Smarter Water Management: Five Insights from Korea’s Experience

Digital transformation is reshaping how water utilities deliver safe, reliable, and efficient services. For countries like Uruguay—where reducing non-revenue water (NRW), modernizing aging infrastructure, and strengthening water quality monitoring are national priorities—the question is no longer whether to digitalize water services, but how to do it effectively and at scale. When done well, digital water transformation translates into fewer service interruptions, safer drinking water, and more efficient use of public resources for households and communities.

Through the Source of Innovation alliance, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) facilitated a technical exchange between Uruguay and the Republic of Korea to explore how digital solutions can improve water utility performance. Korea’s experience shows how long-term vision, data-driven management, and institutional capacity can turn digital transformation into a tangible result—improving efficiency, reducing losses, and protecting water quality.

For Uruguay, the timing of this exchange could not be more relevant. The country is advancing its own digital transformation agenda, with a strong focus on NRW reduction, infrastructure modernization, and the monitoring and removal of contaminants such as arsenic. Korea offered not only proven technologies, but also a clear picture of the institutional, operational, and cultural shifts required to make digital water systems work sustainably.
 

Korea’s water system is the result of decades de investment, planning, and a persistent commitment to data. Treatment plants operate with AI-driven optimization; monitoring of distribution networks are in real time, and water quality data flows seamlessly across institutions. Beyond technological sophistication, what stands out is the emphasis on prevention: leaks are anticipated rather than repaired, quality risks are detected early, and strategic decisions rely on integrated and verified information.

This perspective strongly resonates with the ongoing efforts of Uruguay’s water utility — the Administración de Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE).  While Uruguay is already implementing digital tools and NRW management strategies Korea illustrates what becomes possible when monitoring systems, governance framework, and capacity-building evolve together.

So, as a result, in November 2025, a technical team from OSE, and the IDB travelled to South Korea, as part of the Source of Innovation alliance, to learn how a country that once faced challenges similar to those in Latin America transformed its water sector through digital innovation.
 

1. Digital transformation succeeds when systems, people, and data evolve together 
Across multiple visits, ranging from the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Monitoring Center to Seoul Water’s smart metering program, the Uruguayan team observed how digitalization permeates Korea’s water institutions. Data does not sit in isolated systems; it is shared, verified, and used to anticipate operational challenges. To achieve this level of integration into operations, Korea had to develop a long-term vision on how to manage its networks, that is the biggest insight for Uruguay. In the Korean case, the focus was management with precision and effective adaptability to climate variability and demand fluctuations.

2. Tackling NRW Requires Simultaneous Action on Infrastructure and Analytics
At Korea Water’s NRW centers, modernization of old pipelines goes hand in hand with zoning, continuous pressure management, and predictive detection of leaks. Korea’s experience confirmed that reductions in NRW do not come from a single measure, but from the alignment of engineering, monitoring, and rapid response systems. For OSE, this integrated approach offers valuable guidance as the utility strengthens its own NRW strategies to improve the quality of water services.

3. Water Quality Protection Depends on Early-Warning Systems and Robust Laboratories
Visits to the National Institute of Environmental Research and Korea’s  Water Quality Analysis Center showed how the country combines advanced laboratory capacity with nationwide monitoring networks and automated alerts. This system allows authorities to track contaminants in real time and respond quickly when anomalies arise. The strengthening of such types of systems and institutions in Uruguay could help the country meet its objective of improving water quality and safeguarding public health.

4. Artificial Intelligence Enhances—Not Replaces—Operational Expertise
At the Hwaseong Water Treatment Plant, Korea’s first fully AI-assisted facility, AI system adjusts treatment processes, optimizes energy use, and flags performance deviations before they become critical. What stood out most was how operators interpret AI—generated insights and incorporate them into their daily decision-making. Digital transformation, in this sense, is as much about people and skills as it is about algorithms.

5. Innovation Ecosystems Accelerate Adoption and Learning
Engagements with Korean startups highlighted how emerging tools—sensors, analytics platforms, autonomous inspection systems—can complement public utilities and expand their technical capacity. These collaborations are central to Korea’s rapid advancement and offer a model for Uruguay to strengthen its partnerships with its own domestic ecosystem of startups to support the digital transformation of the water sector.
 

The study tour provided a clear example of how digital water transformation can be implemented in practice and offered OSE a wide range of opportunities to advance in its transformation agenda with support of the IDB, including:

•   Exploring AI-based tools for treatment optimization and predictive maintenance. •    Strengthening NRW strategies through integrated monitoring network, modernization, and predictive models.
•    Enhancing real-time water quality monitoring, including early-warning systems for contaminants.
•    Building institutional skills to manage data, operate digital systems, and sustain long-term transformation.

Korea’s experience shows that digitalization is not an abstract concept—it is a practical pathway toward more efficient, safer, and more resilient water services. The exchange shows that, with the right partnerships and a gradual, well-planned approach, Uruguay can accelerate its transition toward a smarter and more robust water sector, an experience that can not only benefit its citizens but also serve as an inspiration for other governments and water operators across Latin America and the Caribbean.