There are no systemic measures. Serious problems with water supply in the south of Ukraine occupied by Russia

The water in the occupied part of the Kherson region of Ukraine is not for use, reports the Center of National Resistance and notes that the situation with water supply in the occupied territories of Ukraine "has not been controlled by the occupying authorities for a long time." The message states that the water cannot be used for domestic and agricultural purposes, nor for bathing.

The Russian occupation authorities also state that laboratory analyzes of water quality in the Nizhny Sirogoz, Pervopokrovka, Verkhny Sirogoz and Novoaleksandrovka reservoirs showed unsatisfactory results, which pose a threat to human health.
Andrey Aleksenko, head of the so-called Russian government in the occupied part of the Kherson region, reported in July that the region appeared to be implementing a program called "Clean Water." This includes the modernization of the water supply system. The official particularly pointed out that similar events are planned in Novotroick, Skadovsk and Chaplin districts.
Where in the occupied territories is the water not for use? How much has the water supply situation worsened after the occupation? What are the health risks of using low-quality water and how to avoid them, read in the material of the Radio Liberty project "News of the Azov Region".
The mayor of Nova Kahovka, Vladimir Kovalenko, said that the destruction of the Kahovka hydropower plant significantly affected the state of water supply on the left bank of the Kherson region.
"Most of the Kherson region has always had certain problems with water supply, but now the situation has acquired a particularly threatening character in some settlements located above the Kahovka HPP - there is simply no water there. There are no problems in Nova Kahovka itself. Yes, the underground water level has dropped by two meters, but the depth of the wells at the city's water intakes is sufficient to supply the city's residents with water. Problems in that part arise when the electricity goes out. There are also problems in the rural settlements of our community, because there was no central water supply, so it is necessary to deepen the wells. Water quality, especially in points such as Raiskoje, Topolivka, Obrivka, Maslovka, has deteriorated," Kovalenko said.

"Drinking water only for money"

According to Kovalenko, in settlements such as Ljubimovka and Novie Kairi, the groundwater has dropped by tens of meters. People have to dig wells, but this does not guarantee water quality. There are settlements where the Russian occupation authorities supply technical water to the local population, but drinking water has to be bought, he said.

"In New Cairo, people either bought or gave them plastic containers of 200 liters, in which technical water was brought and poured. In some households, adequate water treatment for domestic livestock must be ensured. In order to have drinking water, you had to go either to Kahovka or to more distant territories. So, this problem of water deficit exists, there is a terrible drop in groundwater, which affects the quality of water. Many wells are now unable to supply the population with potable water," said the official.
Water problems lead to people from the village moving to Nova Kahovka, added the mayor.
"They go to town to visit friends. They have a telephone connection and people allow them to move into their apartments in the city, because there is water there, there is some kind of connection. In rural settlements there is no electricity, no potable water, no communication. Water is one of the reasons why people move to Nova Kahovka to stay with acquaintances and friends who allow them to do so," said Kovalenko.

"The situation is getting worse"

"Novosti Priazovya" requested information about the water supply situation in other regions under the occupation of the Russian Federation in the south of Ukraine.
Yevgeny Balicki, who was appointed by Russia to manage the occupied part of the Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balicki reported in early July that the occupation Ministry of Nature, Ecology and Subsoil Use approved the procedure for granting the right to use the region's underground areas.
According to Balicki, this will enable the establishment and rationalization of mineral exploitation, as well as the search and assessment of groundwater.
Andrej Solopov, president of the Priazov village council of the Melitopol district of the Zaporozhye region, said that the situation with the supply of drinking water in this society has always been difficult, however, before the occupation, the local authorities controlled this issue. Now the problem has worsened significantly, the official said.
"The northern part of the settlement was connected to the so-called western water supply, which originated somewhere from the Kahovski reservoir. And when the occupiers blew up the dam in June of last year (Kahovska HPP - author's note), the reservoirs disappeared, so to speak, and the aqueduct ran out of water. In particular, the inhabitants of the northern part of the village immediately felt it. The situation is very difficult. Due to the heat and in general due to such seasonal fluctuations in the water level, the water supply situation is very difficult. We constantly communicate with our residents, we monitor the Telegram channels of the occupation administration of Priazovski, we see that they are forced to deliver drinking water to people in barrels, as in the last century. That is, they did not find a single solution other than this one. And the situation with drinking water is getting worse," Solopov emphasized.
The Russian occupation authorities promised local residents that they would find additional sources of water supply, but that has not happened, Solopov says.

"There are individual wells, but drinking water in our area lies somewhere at a depth greater than 100 meters. That is, the wells that have drinking water are very deep. Very few of the population can afford to drill such deep wells, as additional documentation is required for this. But as far as technical water is concerned, even the wells that are there are quite shallow, the water is of technical quality, that is, it must be used very carefully even for irrigation, because it is salty", noted Solopov.

"Aqueducts damaged, reservoirs drying up"

Roman Ameljakin, deputy president of the Mariupol city council, told "Novosti iz Azov" that before the occupation, the water in this city was of insufficient quality. Therefore, the authorities have developed projects for the desalination of water from the sea or the construction of a new water intake from the river Kalčik.
 "Before the invasion, the aqueduct that supplied us with water from reservoirs in the north of the region was destroyed, and the city was mainly supplied from the Starokrimski reservoir - the water there is very hard and supplies are limited. For now, the city receives its water supply from the Starokrimski reservoir. The water supply in Severski Donac has not yet been restored, so Donetsk and Mariupol are also suffering," said Ameljakin.
According to him, due to the heat of the past weeks, the Starokrimski reservoir has dried up. Because of this, the water in consumers' taps was of very poor quality - dirty, with sludge.
"On top of everything, there were also problems with the power supply, because it has not yet been properly restored. Accordingly, the pumps at the pumping stations are turned off. Because of this, the water situation in the city was very bad, we have complaints from all parts of the city", said Ameljakin.
According to the official, the occupying authorities are not implementing systemic measures to solve the problem of water supply in Mariupol.
"There is no rehabilitation of the canal, no construction of new water intakes. Somehow they are patching pipes somewhere, trying to do something with the supply of electricity to pumping stations, but these are all situational solutions that enable the exploitation of the already not the best water supply system, which was also badly damaged by shells of the Russian army during the occupation of the city", added Ameljakin.

Chemist's advice - how to clean poor quality water

Doctoral candidate in chemical sciences Gleb Repih told "Novosti iz Azov" that the use of poor quality water can be dangerous for people's health.
“If you get any serious poisoning, it could be the last poisoning in your life, that's the problem. What can it be? These are dysentery, cholera, Escherichia coli, a bunch of causative agents of various intestinal infections, which are transmitted precisely by water. It's a huge bunch of bacteria, the whole spectrum, including deadly diseases. Therefore, under no circumstances should you use this water. If you have any doubts about water quality, remember that no filter you have at home will filter. Water may become visually clean, but it will not remove microbes and viruses," explained Repih.

In order for such water to become suitable for consumption, it must be boiled for 10 minutes, says the scientist. Apart from boiling, special filters and tablets can help purify water, added Repih.
"Tablets are designed for a certain amount of water. You insert a tablet, a certain time passes, it completely disinfects that water. There are also tablets that, in addition to disinfectants, collect all that dirt, which then settles to the bottom, and on top there will be a layer of transparent, not very tasty, but still drinkable water. And the filters should be reverse osmosis. This is the only device that can separate everything, both bacteria and microbes. Only with such a filter can you filter all the excess in one go and get absolutely drinkable water", explained the expert.