Mitryasova, O. CHRONICLES OF THIRST: DOCUMENTING MYKOLAIV'S WATER SECURITY CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN A WAR-AFFECTED CITY: Monograph. Mykolaiv: PMBSNU, 2026, 124 p.

CHRONICLES OF THIRST: DOCUMENTING MYKOLAIV'S WATER SECURITY CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN A WAR-AFFECTED CITY In parallel with the construction, large-scale scientific work continued. Engineers and hydrochemists did not rely on chance. They conducted a thorough audit of all water resources in the city. River water in different areas was analyzed and hundreds of private sources were checked. As a result, scientists selected 58 best wells, the water from which was divided into three quality classes. This was the first example in the history of Mykolaiv of systematic management of water resources quality at the municipal level. The year 1905 was a turning point. when the city was entangled by a network of new pipes 37 kilometers long. An important element of safety was 123 fire hydrants, which forever changed the level of protection of wooden and stone quarters of Mykolaiv. However, the real breakthrough that delighted contemporaries was the use of high- pressure electric pumps. At a time when most of the world's cities relied on steam or gravity, Mykolaiv integrated a water pipeline with a city power plant. The energy of light became the energy of water. This not only reduced the cost of operating the system, but also gave a powerful impetus to the industrial development of the city, turning the water supply system into the economic engine of the region. Shukhov’s Tower The appearance of the water tower in Mykolaiv became a real world sensation in the field of industrial construction. Its author, the outstanding engineer Vladimir Shukhov (Fig. 1.10), created a design that was ahead of its time. Although for the first time the prototype of such a mesh structure was demonstrated as an exhibit at the Nizhny Novgorod exhibition in 1896, it was the Mykolaiv tower that became the world's first hyperboloid structure that was put into permanent operation in the city water supply system. The path of the tower to Mykolaiv was no less amazing than its design. The structure was made at a plant in Moscow, and then disassembled, like a giant metal designer, it was transported by rail to the south. The secret of its incredible strength and at the same time visual lightness lay in the unique mesh structure. The frame of the tower consisted of 48 steel corners, which, according to the author's idea, were intertwined with nine powerful horizontal rings. At each point of intersection, the elements were securely connected with rivets. Thanks to this solution, the mesh surface of the skeleton has turned into a single, monolithic system capable of withstanding colossal loads — both the weight of a giant tank of water and the insane pressure of steppe winds. 18