Kyiv may be left without main source of drinking water due to pollution of Desna River - Kyivvodokanal
The pollution of the Desna River may lead to the fact that Kyiv may be left without the main source of drinking water supply.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by Volodymyr Kostiuk, Deputy Director of Kyivvodokanal, to Espresso.
"I would like to remind you that the Desna River remains the main source of water supply for the treatment facilities of the Desna water supply stations and accounts for 70% of the prepared drinking water for Kyiv residents. There is no alternative to this water intake today. Its loss will lead to serious consequences and an imbalance in the capital's water supply system," Kostiuk explained.
He added that due to the pollution of the Desna River, water supply to Desnianskyi water supply stations in Kyiv may be cut off.
"The pollution of the Desna River is progressing. We are monitoring and analysing the laboratory results of many organisations that deal with this issue. The water utility takes samples twice a week in the upper reaches of the river. Unfortunately, this contamination is not diluting as modelled. Now the contaminated water has descended below Chernihiv. Unfortunately, organic pollution continues," said the deputy director.
At the same time, he said, it is impossible to model what kind of water will come to the water intake in 4-5 days. However, Kyivvodokanal is "expecting the worst results".
"If these results are confirmed and our current technology is unable to purify the water, we may have to abandon this source of water supply and switch to other sources. In particular, the Dnipro station and artesian springs. However, this alternative system will not be able to provide 100% water supply to the entire city of Kyiv," Kostiuk summed up.
Pollution of the Seim River
The day before, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi said that the Seim River had been polluted from the territory of the Russian Federation. However, it is currently unknown whether this was done intentionally or by accident.
On 30 August, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources reported that pollutant absorption and oxygenation of water had begun on the Desna River in the Chernihiv region.
Earlier, the head of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Ruslan Strilets, said that everything possible was being done to prevent the polluted waters of the Seim River from reaching the drinking water intake of Kyiv.
