Mykolaiv residents already owe Vodokanal more than ₴241 million

As of January 2024, residents of Mykolaiv owe more than 241 million hryvnias for water supply and drainage services.

The director of Mykolaivvodokanal, Borys Dudenko, reported this in a comment to NikVesti.

According to him, currently the residents of Mykolaiv do not pay for water, who were also debtors even before the full-scale war and the beginning of water supply problems in the city.

«It remains practically in such a static state. I will tell you that the percentage of Mykolaiv residents who did not pay before the war and believed that someone should do it for them, do not pay even now. There is a part of residents who believe that it should be free, since it is a natural subsoil. They even write us such letters. But you have to understand that this is all electricity, fuel and lubricants, wages. It doesn't happen for free,» Borys Dudenko commented on the situation.

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As of August 2023, the debt of Mykolaiv residents to Vodokanal was somewhat smaller and amounted to 237 million hryvnias. Thus, among the regions of Ukraine, Mykolaiv residents became one of the largest debtors for water supply services.

What about the water in Mykolaiv?

Back in April 2022, Russian troops destroyed the water pipeline through which Mykolaiv received drinking water.

Previously, NikVesti wrote that the water in the taps of Mykolaiv residents is dangerous for consumption, as it contains enterococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, toxic elements, has an increased content of chlorides, sulfates, dry residue, etc.

More information about the dangers of using «technical» water for citizens and what awaits the city's residents in the future can be found in the «Mykolaiv. The city that holds the defense of the south suffers from thirst».

In March 2023, the director of Mykolaivvodokanal, Borys Dudenko, announced the possible threat of destruction of the sewage system due to the influence of salt water. According to him, over the past year, the water utility has eliminated more than 1,000 leaks, and after the start of the supply of salty water, the number of accidents per day has increased to 10-15 times. In addition, concrete sewer collectors also begin to degrade.

The European Investment Bank has approved additional credit financing of 20 million euros to improve water supply and drainage in Mykolaiv within the framework of the Municipal Infrastructure Development Program of Ukraine.

Earlier it was reported that 1.2 billion hryvnias are going to be allocated from the state budget for the restoration of the water supply system in Mykolaiv. Such a step is necessary for the city, since salt water corrodes the pipes and over time the entire water supply system will have to be changed in Mykolaiv.

At the same time, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, considers his team's decision to supply the city with salty technical water from the Southern Bug through a water pipeline after the water pipeline from the Dnipro River was damaged by Russian shelling in April of last year.

The Vodokanal is considering six options for arranging a new water intake site to provide Mykolaiv with drinking water.

As you know, the search for an alternative source of water intake began in the summer of last year. At that time, the general director of the water utility Borys Dudenko talked about only a few options, where to get the amount of water necessary to fill the water supply system of our city and its 24-hour operation.

The first option is to go higher along the channel of the Southern Bug, choose a place with high-quality fresh water, build a water intake station there, lay a pipeline to Mykolaiv.

The second is to continue pumping water from the Dnipro-Bug estuary, but to install industrial-scale reverse osmosis units. Such installations are very energy-consuming.

On August 19, the department of urban planning, architecture, capital construction and support of development projects of Mykolaiv RMA announced tenders for the reconstruction of 12 sections of water mains damaged by salt water in different areas of the city for a total amount of 1 billion 348 million hryvnias.

Recently, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, announced the possible deterioration of water quality in the taps of Mykolaiv residents by the end of 2023. At the same time, he believes that currently the water from the taps in Mykolaiv, which the townspeople consider technical, is better in terms of quality than «most water in Europe.»

It is also known that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is currently personally dealing with the issue of restoring the supply of drinking water to Mykolaiv.

Read also the article by NikVesti «The issue of water in Mykolaiv. Is it possible to restore the October Reservoir and how will it help the city?».