Ochakiv plans to upgrade water supply and sewerage systems in five years: ₴969 million needed for the work

Stella «I love Ochakiv». Archive photo NikVesti

The Ochakiv City Council plans to approve a programme to address the problems with the quality of drinking water and the state of water supply and sewerage networks in the community. The programme requires 969 million hryvnias for implementation.

The relevant draft decision is posted on the official website of the city council.

The draft programme states that the city currently faces a problem with the poor condition of underground sources of drinking water and the deterioration of water supply and sewage systems.

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It is indicated that the community is supplied with water from artesian wells. There are 15 wells on the balance sheet of the communal enterprise «Ochakiv-service», but only 9 are working — the rest need to be restored. The total length of the water supply network is 177 kilometres, of which almost half — 74.5 kilometres — is in critical condition and needs to be completely replaced. A large metal tank with a capacity of 20,000 cubic metres, which has been in operation for more than 40 years, also needs to be overhauled and new equipment installed.

In addition, the pumping station that provides pressure in the water supply system has 8 pumps, but only 3 are working, while the rest need to be repaired or replaced with modern and energy-efficient ones.

The situation with sewage is no better. The length of the sewerage network is 116 km, of which 52 km need to be repaired and cleaned. This is especially true for collectors that have been in operation for more than 40 years. The sewage treatment plant is designed to process 20,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day, but it actually processes only 2,000. Many of the pipes are damaged, the equipment is worn out and needs to be replaced, and the compressors consume too much energy and are outdated.

The programme is designed for 5 years and can be implemented in two stages. The community needs 969 million 177 thousand hryvnias for all the measures.

The main areas of the Programme include the rational use of underground sources of drinking water supply, the development and reconstruction of centralised water supply and sewage systems, as well as the use of energy-saving equipment and modern control devices in the production of drinking water and wastewater treatment.

The measures are expected to be financed from the local budget, the funds of the local enterprise «Ochakiv-service» and from subventions from the state budget of Ukraine.

The drinking water programme is to be considered by city council members at the next session of the city council.

As a reminder, a power supply agreement for the new water supply system will come into effect in Mykolaiv on 1 October. This will allow the system to start filling up.

History of the water supply system in Mykolaiv

It has been more than three years since Russian troops damaged the water supply system 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 such water and the salt content in its composition. The salt water damaged 1,200 kilometres of the city's water supply network. Boris 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 client for the new water pipeline was the Service for Infrastructure Restoration and Development in Dnipropetrovska oblast, and the contractor was the group of companies «Avtostrada».

Recently, Oleksii Kuleba, Vice Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine and Minister of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine , stated that the construction of a new water supply system for Mykolaiv is already at the final stage. Pumping stations are 86% complete. He said that at the end of August, the city would receive water.

Later, Vitalii Kim confirmed these words and said that the new water supply system, which should provide Mykolaiv with drinking water, could be launched on 26-27 August. At the same time, the first stage of the new treatment plant will be ready no earlier than October.

Subsequently, Serhii Sukhomlyn said that after testing, the new water pipeline is 100% ready to pump water to Mykolaiv.