Freshwater crisis: Experts reveal truth about drinking water in Ukraine
What kind of water can be drunk in Ukraine and what is the situation with pollution (photo: Getty Images)
Ukraine ranks among the last in Europe regarding freshwater reserves per capita. Many water bodies have already been lost; others are polluted. What is happening to water in Ukraine, where it is already dangerous, and is water in the countryside cleaner than in the city – read in the RBC-Ukraine's material below.
Takeaways:
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Why is Ukraine one of the poorest countries in Europe in terms of water?
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Who and how is polluting our rivers and groundwater the most?
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Why is water in the countryside not always cleaner than in the city?
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Which water is safe to drink daily – from the tap, a water pump, or a bottle?
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Is Ukraine at risk of losing water due to climate change?
According to estimates by European and Ukrainian scientific institutions, Ukraine occupies one of the last places among European countries in terms of water availability – the quantity and volume of water resources per capita.
"People find it difficult to assess this because they see rivers, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs around them and do not see any problems in it. Because it all looks as if it is the way it should be. We have the illusion that there is enough water in Ukraine. In fact, we have extremely little water," notes Leonid Bytsyura, member of the Board of the Ukrainian Water Association and head of the Department of Ecology and Health Protection at the Western Ukrainian National University.
Together with entrepreneur and vice-president of the Ukrainian Water Association Artem Shyra, he tells RBC-Ukraine about the main problems with water resources in Ukraine, regions with the most polluted water, and why a thrifty attitude to resources should become the foundation of our thinking.
What’s wrong with water resources management
Water bodies occupy only 4% of the territory of Ukraine, slightly more if wetlands are included. These are rivers, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, and canals. The river network is not very dense, and few large natural water bodies exist. Many wetlands, which perform an important function of regulating the water balance and biodiversity, have been drained. Enterprises actively pump water out, and the war complicates the already high level of water pollution.
The difference in water capacity between the national economies of Ukraine and Poland differs twofold. The scientist explains that we consume twice as much water per production unit. In Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, where water accounting is established and rational solutions are implemented, enterprises consume significantly less water resources per unit of GDP.
In Ukraine, there are problems with data accuracy on water resources (photo: RBC-Ukraine/Vitalii Nosach)
Many countries have realized the importance of so-called virtual water – this is the amount of water used to produce a product or service. For example, to grow just 1 kilogram of wheat, about 1300 liters of water are needed. And in one apple, about 70 liters of water are "hidden," which were used to grow it.
"To produce one ton of grain, you must consume 200–500 tons of water. That’s just one crop. If you count everything together, the numbers are insane," notes Artem Shyra.
Behind the seemingly normal export or consumption of products often lies a significant depletion of a country’s water resources. Realizing the threat of groundwater depletion, Saudi Arabia and the UAE abandoned exhausting agriculture and began investing in the agricultural sector of other countries, consuming their virtual water instead of their own.
Leonid Bytsyura and Artem Shyra believe that the water system of Ukraine needs to be adapted to new realities to minimize losses and use resources more efficiently. And for this, we must first have accurate water accounting and understand how much water we actually have.
"There is no perfect water accounting at the state level. Therefore, we hear very different figures from ministries and agencies. There is more or less accurate data on water from precipitation and water flows entering Ukraine. Other data, which are summarized from reports on water use by types of consumers – municipal services, agriculture, industry, hydropower, etc. – due to the lack of full control over the actual volume of water intake, are no longer so accurate," notes Leonid.
According to calculations by the Ukrainian Water Association, as many as 24 bodies are responsible for water policy in Ukraine. According to Leonid Bytsyura, this creates a dispersal of responsibility. One problem is to bring all data into a single system. In the Association, there have been cases when, to get certain information, one state body has to pay another. Another issue – the cost of water in Ukraine does not reflect the current realities.
"Water consumption data is often unreliable – enterprises underreport because it affects their expenses: more consumption means a more expensive final product. If we considered water consumption at real prices, for example, when growing wheat, the cost of grain would increase several times. Now the price of grain is determined not by expenses, but by exchange mechanisms and demand," says the scientist.
"Half the water in any city is consumed not by apartments, schools, and kindergartens but by enterprises. The state subsidizes water supply to everyone. So enterprises get water at half or even a third of the price. If water had an objective cost, a whole water purification business would develop around it, and there would be measures to reduce water consumption. In Ukraine, water for enterprises costs roughly 20 hryvnias, and for the same enterprises in Poland – 150," explains Artem Shyra.
Photo: In communities, they often don’t know what changes they need to implement (RBC-Ukraine/Vitalii Nosach)
A separate problem in communities – often there are no resources for control, accounting, monitoring water quality and water efficiency, says Leonid Bytsyura. Infrastructure in Ukraine is outdated, most water utilities were built during the USSR, and the monitoring network in Ukraine includes about 400 surface water points and as many underground ones, whereas small Israel has 11,000 wells with which they monitor water availability and volume of water resources.
"This is very noticeable when communicating with communities. I asked on the ground: 'Do you have a groundwater monitoring point?' 'No.' 'And a river monitoring point?' 'No. And there is no hydrometeorological station.' So how can you work with this? Some international data helps. For example, satellites scan the entire surface of the Earth, and we can at least estimate some figures," adds Artem Shyra.
Now there is a process of implementing European legislation into national law, but in communities, they often don’t know what is needed for this, notes Bytsyura.
"Sometimes they don’t even know that there are such laws. The same law of Ukraine ‘On wastewater disposal and treatment of sewage’ empowers communities to monitor and control, conduct various activities. But if they don’t know about this, they can't plan any actions, can’t plan a budget," the interlocutor says.
In which regions of Ukraine the water is the most polluted
Pollution enters the water from any human activity. Anything can be on the earth's surface: construction and household waste, fertilizers on the fields. All of this gets into the ground and then – into surface and groundwater.
"Traditionally, the most water pollution is near industrial centers along the Dnipro and in the Azov Sea region. This is central Ukraine, particularly Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and also the East. There is a separate problem there – flooded mines. Fighting is taking place nearby, and in the absence of equipment and electricity, it is simply impossible to pump out the water from there," adds Leonid Bytsyura.
Water indicators are deteriorating near regional centers located on the Dnipro. Water pollution is directly related to the proximity of large cities and industrial facilities. The most harmful are metallurgy and the mining industry. A high concentration of such enterprises is a direct polluter.
Lviv region also has such industrial zones, although to a lesser extent. In Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, and Khmelnytskyi regions – point-source pollution of agricultural and household origin, in Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Kyiv, Zhytomyr regions – more pronounced industrial pollution is also added.
But it is not only industrial facilities that pollute water. Agriculture causes harm because pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and other plant protection products with a chemical base and various decomposition periods are used there. All of this is washed through soil masses and sooner or later enters the water. The greatest harm to water from agriculture comes from pig farms and poultry farms.
Ecologists explained what is wrong with water in Ukraine. Water is polluted by enterprises, agriculture, and communal-household effluents, and people themselves throw garbage into water bodies (photo: Getty Images)
"Among agricultural producers, the most pollution comes from indigestible fertilizers. In our country, this process is practically not controlled. A draft law on soil quality control is being blocked at the Agrarian Committee of the Verkhovna Rada level. Unlike ecology, the agrarian sector has powerful lobbyists, including in the profile committee of the Verkhovna Rada. And therefore, instead of that, control takes place at the level of the agricultural enterprises themselves, that is, the situation is such that in fact, they control themselves," says Leonid Bytsyura.
Communal household effluents also pollute water. Where there are no treatment facilities, there may be microbiological pollutants in the water, residues of pharmaceutical drugs, etc.
"Large water utilities have treatment facilities, and small ones do not. There is a particular problem in rural communities: there, the pollution is smaller, point-based, but the density of pollution may be greater. Therefore, when they say: 'move from the city to the village, there is better ecology and better water,' it doesn’t always work like that in real life. One needs to understand the specifics of water in particular areas. What are the indicators of sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron? What is the alkalinity of the water, etc.," the specialist adds.
Non-compliance with sanitary zones and coastal water protection zones also has a strong impact. There are standards for how far the distance from the water’s edge to arable land should be. And farms often plow land right next to the water, and plant protection products and fertilizers get there. First into surface waters and then into underground ones," the specialist adds.
There are also problems with wells. Leonid Bytsyura has seen many times that in villages, wells stand near landfills – spontaneous or organized, and the water there is unfit for consumption.
"People even visually see that the water is murky and even with foam. Therefore, one cannot unequivocally say that the water in villages is cleaner than in the city. Sometimes it may be even dirtier because either fertilizers from the fields or effluents from farms can get there," he says.
From the tap or from the artesian well: which water is better to drink daily
80% of drinking water in Ukraine comes from surface sources, which are vulnerable to pollution and environmental depletion. Only 20% is taken from safer underground sources.
Underground artesian water from a well is usually cleaner, say the interviewees. Water utilities declare decent quality of water from the tap, but it’s better to be on the safe side. Because what we drink on a regular basis actually forms the foundation of our health.
“It is optimal to drink tap water that has been additionally purified. Preferably, it is purified with the help of special filters. And then you don’t have to worry because tap water is already somewhat treated; something in it is more or less tested. And if you further purify it, then you can safely and happily drink it. Everyone who wants to live a little longer should further purify drinking water,” advises Artem Shyra.
The second option is to buy purified water. Such water is sold at dispensing stations near residential buildings.
“There is a portable salinity meter with which you can check the water without having to submit it for lab analysis. If the water’s salinity is reduced, then all the other indicators are reduced as well. This means that such water is cleaner and more suitable for consumption. Of course, ideally it’s better to drink water from the Swiss Alps, but the best alternative here and now is purified tap water. Or water from a dispensing station, where it will definitely be better than from the tap,” he says.
By the way, still bottled water sold under various brands is approximately of the same quality as the water from dispensing stations, assures the entrepreneur.
“Bottled water is more expensive mainly due to logistics and other factors, but the quality of the water itself is about the same,” he explains.
"Kyiv is already steppe": what is happening due to climate change
Climate changes have no borders. Because of them, natural zones in Ukraine are shifting: the steppe is moving toward the center of Ukraine and higher, says Leonid Bytsyura.
“Kyiv is now already steppe. Just 10 years ago there was no steppe here. According to forecasts from the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation of the NAAS, the amount of arable land with water scarcity will increase: from 18.65 million hectares (60%) now to 20.6 million hectares (67%) by 2050 and to 25 million hectares (80%) by 2100. More irrigation, drainage, and water resources will be needed. Such crops as sugar beet are moving higher, from the south to the west. There is a forecast that sugar beet will be grown only in Western Ukraine due to the water needs of this crop,” he points out.
The scientist says: these changes are already happening now. We see them through changes at different levels, through changes in vegetation. We see new plants, new insects, and new crustaceans. They migrate, compete with local species, and spread. This is a natural phenomenon when a stronger species displaces a weaker one.
It is optimal to drink tap water that has been additionally purified, experts advise (photo: Getty Images)
"Traditional crops will change. But at the same time, in some areas, there will be two harvests per year. For example, in Israel, there are two harvests, but they have milder springs. And we had very strong frosts in the spring. For plant germination, the first leaves mustn't be damaged. The frosts suppressed their growth. It’s already mid-May, and it’s still cool. All this negatively affects the future harvest," the interviewee adds.
However, overall, water remains in a certain balance: the volume of surface water is decreasing—while the volume of water vapor in the atmosphere is increasing. A person will feel this redistribution process, the scientist assures:
"During climate change, the average annual temperature rises and evaporation increases. And evaporation, in turn, leads to precipitation. If there are no strong winds, then this precipitation falls in the same area from which it evaporates. This means that the water will not disappear somewhere. On the other hand, the nature of precipitation is changing. It becomes tropical in intensity and volume. This, too, can bring damage, especially in cities that are not adapted to such sudden rainfall. For example, even in terms of storm drainage parameters. Therefore, flooding is becoming more frequent even in areas of cities not typical for this."
One way or another, water in Ukraine is now rapidly being lost at every level—from personal to national. This multiplies in a complex way: people at home use water inefficiently, and the same happens in communities, enterprises, and agriculture. That’s why even a simple habit of turning off the water while brushing your teeth matters — if millions do this, the result will be tangible.
"Careful attitude toward water is a responsibility and a manifestation of solidarity with the world. Tap water is not just a convenience. It’s the result of someone’s labor, the costs of purification, and of raising the water to your floor and into the faucet in your kitchen. I have high hopes for the new generation because, from Soviet times, there remains the mistaken belief that everything on earth was created for humans. But we are only part of nature, and if the conditions for life on the planet are destroyed, we will suffer first. Nature will recover, but it will be hard for us," Leonid emphasizes.
He adds that everyone should understand their place on the planet and strive to preserve water not only for themselves but also for others. The frugality of natural resources is a basic thing, and it should come from the idea: "I understand my place on the planet and want to preserve this water for others."
