Ukraine faces water shortages in 10 years: Mykolaiv is at risk

Mykolaiv seaport. Photo: Anna Orlova, Google Maps

Ukraine could face a water crisis in the next decade. The south — Mykolaiv, Odesa and Kherson — is under the greatest threat. In some cities, water may be supplied hourly.

This was reported by the head of the State Agency for the Restoration and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Serhii Sukhomlyn, according to «Telegraph».

According to him, there are several reasons for this: climate change, depletion of water resources, deterioration of water utilities, and the consequences of Russian aggression.

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«It is important for us to think now about meeting the needs of Odesa, Kherson [and Mykolaiv]. If we do nothing, in 15 years we will have serious water problems in Kherson, so we need to get involved now,» said Sukhomlyn.

The situation is complicated by the fact that only 32% of wastewater in Ukraine is treated, while in Europe this figure exceeds 80%. Due to outdated infrastructure, water utilities lose a large part of water before it is delivered to consumers.

«And some large cities, such as Odesa, may even face water supply shortages,» said the head of the State Agency for Reconstruction.

Sukhomlyn added that among the solutions already being discussed is a new water supply system for Odesa, which should be combined with a road project to Danube ports bypassing Moldova. According to him, Ukrainian experts are working on this together with the World Bank.

«This is not about rebuilding, but about building something even better than before. This is a very large-scale project, and the World Bank is currently making calculations with the help of specialists. As soon as we get the numbers, we will talk about financing options in detail. But this problem needs to be solved now,» says Sukhomlyn.

Read also the article NikVesti «Tired of hauling those water jugs». Will Mykolaiv get drinking water in 2025?.

Water supply for Mykolaiv

Almost three years have passed since Russian troops damaged the water pipeline that supplied Mykolaiv with water. Since then, the city of almost half a million people has been without a centralised supply of drinking water. Currently, Mykolaiv residents receive water from a backup source, which raises many questions about the quality of the water and the salt content. The salt water damaged 1,200 kilometres of the city's water supply network. Borys Dudenko, director of «Mykolaivvodokanal», said that it is impossible to replace the entire length of the network that was damaged by salt water. As of August 2024, only about 3 kilometres of the network had been replaced.

All this time, representatives of state and local authorities were looking for ways to restore drinking water supply in Mykolaiv. The final solution was found in 2024: a new water supply line would be laid from Nova Odesa, and the money was allocated from the state budget.

The regional recovery service even selected contractors who will work according to the principle of «design-build». They are three companies, each of which is responsible for one of the three work areas: «Ukrtransmist», «Rostdorstroi» and «Avtostrada». However, later both the client and the construction contractor were changed. The customer for the construction of the new water pipeline was the Service for Infrastructure Restoration and Development in Dnipropetrovsk region, and the contractor was the group of companies «Avtostrada».

The future water pipeline for Mykolaiv is expected to be built and launched by autumn 2025, said Serhii Sukhomlyn, head of the State Agency for Reconstruction. Back during a conference in Berlin in 2024, First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Korniienko, answering a question from «NikVesti», said that the lack of drinking water in Mykolaiv was one of the biggest problems in Ukraine that the state should solve in the near future. And President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ordered the construction of a new water supply system to provide Mykolaiv with drinking water «under the fast track option» — drinking water should be available by the summer of 2025. The government has already approved the programme.

Solar power plants are going to be installed on the water supply system for Mykolaiv, which will reduce the cost of water tariffs for the city's residents, said Vitalii Kim, head of the RMA. At the same time, the contractor «Autostrada» explained that they decided to lay a new water supply system for Mykolaiv from Nova Odesa, as it is the «closest site with good quality drinking water». They also showed photos of the construction of the new water supply system.

As of 22 May 2025, the contractor has already laid 85% of the pipes of the new water supply system that will supply Mykolaiv with drinking water.

Still need more purified water

Although the new water supply system for Mykolaiv is expected to be built by autumn 2025. However, this does not guarantee that the city will immediately receive drinking water, as a new water treatment system needs to be built, Kristina Mikulova, Head of the European Investment Bank's Eastern Europe Regional Centre, told NikVesti.

At the same time, Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv and head of the city's recovery working group Serhii Koreniev said that the Mykolaiv Recovery Agency is working to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant and launch it simultaneously with the new water supply system. And Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional Water Authority, said he did not want to rush to take out a large loan for the construction of water treatment facilities for Mykolaiv, despite the EIB's readiness to allocate more than €100 million.

Later, it became known that the State Agency for the Restoration and Development of Infrastructure is currently upgrading the water treatment system for Mykolaiv on behalf of the government.

Together with the constructed water pipeline, this will allow the city to launch a centralised drinking water supply in August 2025, said Sergiy Sukhomlyn, head of the State Agency for Infrastructure Recovery and Development.