Water began flowing again Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at Camp Humphreys after a widespread outage left residents without running water, forced the Army to deploy emergency water tanks and disrupted services across America’s largest overseas installation. (Ash McLaughlin/U.S. Marine Corps)
Water began flowing again Saturday at Camp Humphreys in South Korea after a widespread outage left residents without running water, forced the Army to deploy emergency tanks and disrupted services across America’s largest overseas installation.
U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys said crews were restoring service early Saturday and asked residents not to use water until after 5 a.m. while the system repressurized. People were then instructed to run all water sources for 30 minutes to flush their plumbing.
The base, which has kept the community updated through a series of Facebook posts since the issue cropped up Friday evening, said the water was potable, though it could initially appear discolored because of turbidity.
The restoration followed hours of escalating problems that began with reduced water pressure and developed into what the garrison described as “widespread water service disruptions and outages.”
Army officials said emergency maintenance crews were carrying out repairs and later announced they had “identified the water issue” but did not publicly disclose its cause.
The garrison said repairs were “delayed and compounded” by Chuseok, one of South Korea’s major holidays.
As the outage persisted, the Army deployed portable water tanks, known as water buffaloes, and established drinking water distribution sites around the base.
The Army had not publicly said how many people were affected by the outage or identified its cause as of Saturday morning.
Some residents reported that water had yet to return after the restoration process began.
“No water at Lodging!” two people wrote in comments on the garrison’s Facebook page. Another reported no water at senior leader quarters, and a fourth said lodging remained without service.
The individual reports could not be independently verified but came as the garrison warned residents that the system was still repressurizing.
Camp Humphreys, in Pyeongtaek about 40 miles south of Seoul, is a major hub for U.S. military operations in South Korea and headquarters for U.S. Forces Korea and Eighth Army. The installation is also home to the 2nd Infantry Division.
