New water supply system to be built for Sofiivka community in Mykolaiv region: first phase of works will cost ₴16.6 million

Replacement of pipes in Mykolaiv. Photo for illustration from the archive NikVesti

A new water supply system will be built for the Sofiivka community in Mykolaiv region. It is planned to spend 16.6 million hryvnias on the first phase.

This is evidenced by the data of the Prozorro public procurement system, according to NikVesti.

The Regional Office of Water Resources in Mykolaiv region plans to spend 16 694,754 hryvnias on the first phase of work, which will be funded by the Danish Refugee Council.

Screenshot from the Prozorro public procurement system

The reconstruction of the Kazanka group water supply system will consist of two stages. At the first stage, the existing pumping station of the second lift will be repaired: two pumps (one working and one backup), new electrical equipment and an automation system will be installed to ensure their safe operation. They will also reconstruct the outlet dam, equip a water metering unit and lay a kilometre of group water supply. The existing overhead crossing over the Inhul River will also be used.

The second stage involves the construction of almost two kilometres of main water supply with wells, the arrangement of a site for two underground clean water tanks (250 m³ each), road surface restoration and landscaping.

The total length of the water pipeline will be 2,981 metres. It is expected that the first stage will take 4 months to complete and the second stage 7 months. All works are to be completed by 23 February 2026.

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Applications are currently being accepted, and the winner will be selected at an auction on 30 September.

In a commentary to NikVesti, Valerii Rymchuk, head of the Sofiivka community, said that currently only four settlements out of all the settlements have centralised water supply. All the others simply do not have water supply due to low pressure in the networks of the Novyi Buh district.

«Only four villages have water supply, and all the others have to get water from outside. People are brought water in barrels. The utility company located in Novyi Buh does not pump water, they do not have the capacity. Water does not reach people. It was a little better, but now it's worse. The repairs are poor, the equipment is old, nothing is updated. Water used to come before, but in those villages where it was 4-5 years ago, it no longer reaches, there is not enough capacity. Although the number of people is decreasing, not increasing,» says Valerii Rymchuk.

He notes that old networks have not been repaired for a long time, so water losses are high. Due to frequent gusts, there is not enough water in the networks.

«There are big gusts, water flows in places. Water is pumped into the pipes, and then it just leaks out into the holes. In the morning, they start pumping again and fill the pipes again. When we see gusts, we inform them, but they don't react much. They make weak repairs and wrap them with hoses,» adds Valerii Rymchuk.

According to him, in addition to laying a new water supply system, tanks will be installed in Sofiivka village to ensure pressure and water supply to all consumers.

«Communications will be brought to the village, water storage tanks will be installed in the village, from which we will be able to pump water for the needs of the villages. Then we will have a supply of water in these reservoirs,» says the community leader.

Valerii Rymchuk is also confident that once the water supply pipeline is completed, the water tariff will be reduced, as there will be no more large water losses.

Water supply for Mykolaiv

At the beginning of September 2025, it was reported that the water supply system in Mykolaiv was fully ready for water pumping. The first test of the system was successful, and permanent water supply can begin after the water utility completes the preparatory work. The next stage will be the construction of a new treatment plant worth around 700 million hryvnias, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Earlier, Vitalii Kim said that Mykolaiv residents would be able to get high-quality water in their taps in October 2025, after the modernisation of the treatment facilities. Later, he said that Mykolaiv residents can expect clean water in their taps around the end of 2025 or early next year.

History of the water supply system in Mykolaiv region

More than three years have passed since Russian troops damaged the water supply pipeline that supplied Mykolaiv with water. Since then, the city of almost half a million people has been without a centralised supply of quality water.

All this time, Mykolaiv residents have been receiving water from a backup source, which raises many questions about the quality of this water and the salt content in its composition. 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 the salt water supply.

For a long time, representatives of state and local authorities have been 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 new water pipeline was the Service for Infrastructure Restoration and Development in Dnipropetrovsk region, and the contractor was the group of companies «Avtostrada».