In Mykolaiv, they want to reconstruct the Zhovtneve reservoir in two years: the work is estimated at ₴4.3 billion

In Mykolaiv, they are going to reconstruct the Zhovtneve reservoir for 4.3 billion hryvnias. These funds will be spent on project development and work.

This is stated in the Program of Economic and Social Development of Mykolaiv Oblast for 2024, which was adopted by the deputies at the session of the Oblast Council on December 14, writes NikVesti.

The reconstruction of the Zhovtnev Reservoir with the production of design and estimate documentation is among the investment projects that are planned to be implemented in 2024-2025.

Funds for these works are planned to be allocated from the state and local budgets.

Earlier in the article NikVesti «The issue of water in Mykolaiv. Is it possible to restore the Zhovtneve Reservoir and how will it help the city?» we wrote that they want to restore the work of the reservoir, which has been inactive for 16 years, after carrying out its complete reconstruction. Tens of millions of euros are needed for this.

The Zhovtneve reservoir in the Vitovskyi district, near the Kulbakyne microdistrict, was built in 1957 and was used as a strategic supply of fresh water for the industrial and domestic water supply of Mykolaiv.

The project of the Upper Inhulets irrigation system, which included the Zhovtneve reservoir, was developed by the Odesa branch of «Ukrdiprokomunbud» in 1954. Its volume at the time of the start of operation was 15 thousand m3, and later it grew to 32 thousand m3 of water (at maximum filling), and the depth in some places was up to 28 meters. It was filled annually, in the autumn-winter period (160 days), with Dnieper and Inhulets water.

In 2006, as a result of the slow water exchange, siltation of the reservoir occurred, and the mineralization of the water increased significantly. Along with the appearance in the water of a strong putrid smell, which turns into mercaptan, there was an increase in the color of the water from 30 to 75 degrees, the dry residue from 300 mg/dm3 to 1120 mg/dm3, the content of chlorides and sulfates doubled, oxidation.

The city management made a decision to drain water from the Zhovtneve Reservoir to clean the silt layer. In addition, maintenance and protection of the reservoir became unaffordable for the city budget. In this regard, the Mykolaiv city government, whose mayor was Volodymyr Chaika at the time, repeatedly appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine regarding the allocation of state subsidies for the implementation of restoration works to ensure the operation of the Zhovtneve Reservoir. However, at that time this issue was not too urgent for the state authorities.

In 2008, the project to clean and restore the reservoir was postponed. For 8 years, no one raised the question of the feasibility of carrying out works on the restoration of the reservoir, neither in the city nor at the state level.

In 2016, a video shot by a quadcopter was published on the network, showing the territory of the «Zhovtneve «Sea», as the reservoir was called. In 2018, journalists of the Inter TV channel filmed a story where they showed that a landfill had already formed on the territory of the former reservoir.

In 2020, the problem of restoration of the October Reservoir was raised to a new level by Olena Kiselyova, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council. At that time, she expressed the opinion that the utility company «Mykolaivvodokanal» should seriously address the problem with water reserves and restore the operation of the October Reservoir.