Water of life

Russia’s attacks on infrastructure has left one of Ukraine’s biggest cities - Mykolaiv - without drinking water supplies for more than two years. We find out how residents are coping.

Mykolaiv, a city of half a million people, has had no drinking water supply for more than two years. It’s left residents having to fill bottles from standpipes or public wells, after Russian attacks on critical infrastructure destroyed the pipeline bringing fresh water from Kherson. For a whole month the city was entirely without water - and ever since, the only supply has been incredibly high in salt - they call it ‘technical water’ - completely unfit for human consumption. A number of charities have joined the effort to bring hundreds of thousands of residents safe and clean water supplies, including the Danish government which has set up a special consulate in Mykolaiv to focus efforts on reconstruction and direct assistance and support, along with $22 million in funding. Ukraine’s chief rabbi has brought a number of devices from an Israeli tech firm, which capture water in the air to convert into drinkable supplies. And the charity Samaritan’s Purse has provided drinkable water to tens of thousands of people in the region, by drilling more than a dozen wells and installing 17 innovative reverse osmosis systems. We went to visit one of them, inside a Baptist church in the centre of Mykolaiv, where Pastor Viktor explained how it had become a crucial source of help.

“We were lucky to find water underground - the first year it was very difficult because in winter the water kept freezing but now we’ve been able to keep it warmer”, he says - and for two years they’ve been able to provide water to anyone who needs it, from 8 in the morning until 6 at night. “Of course, if people come for example at 7 in the morning or are still here after 6 we will keep it open for them, there is often a queue and we would not turn them away” he says. In total, the well and the new device provides at least 10 tons of water every day, rising to as much 15 tons on a day when there are problems with other supplies.

Pastor Viktor leads us downstairs into the basement, where the purification machine has been set up - it also produces enough electricity to power most things the church uses “and we’ve been working this way now for two years”. The machine would have cost at least $25,000, he says - but the charity installed it for free - and church volunteers managed to learn how to operate it, a job normally reserved for specially trained experts. “When this charity offered to install it for us, I didn’t believe it, we were the first to get it in the city centre. And when the heads of the foundation came here and saw how we were managing to operate it, they decided to install all of their machines inside churches.” There’s a special chemical which they need to buy online, to prevent the purifier from breaking down, which costs around 200 euros every six weeks. “Half a million people live here and it’s impossible to live without water, it would be a catastrophe. Older people living on high floors find it especially hard. I saw how people were using water they took from rain pipes, it was a terrible time.”

There are now another 16 of the reverse osmosis devices in churches across Mykolaiv - but the pastor says the city authorities havent given them their official approval. “They don’t include our locations in any official material, about the sites of water taps - so there’s no list of addresses where people can get our water. They definitely know about us, and our water is really good quality…” he says - adding that a lot of new people have been coming to the church purely because of the water supplies.

“At the beginning of this catastrophe, aid groups would bring in water on huge lorries, it would cost $5,000 per lorry - so using water from underground is a much cheaper and more efficient option. And this is for everyone, and for free.”

Outside by a row of taps, a constant line of people were filling up bottles: I asked one lady, a scientist called Maria, about the whole experience. “This is really good water, we are fortunate to have it here”, she said, adding that she had stayed in the city with her young family throughout more than two years of full scale war. “We rebuild our minds and our inside life to cope with this situation. We are all able to do it. As far as this water situation, older people usually manage to carry it away with them using a basket on wheels - although it’s very difficult to get it upstairs - especially when the electricity is off and there are no lifts it is very hard.” But by now, people are used to helping each other out: people with cars load up for their neighbours and others unable to get it home by themselves. And as Russia keeps up its attacks on critical civilian infrastructure, hitting hydro-electric and thermal power plants, destroying electricity supplies to millions - finding new and innovative ways to make sure power and water is still available will be ever more important.