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 began. However, this experience of military destruction was a stark warning for the future: local underground springs, despite their value, were too vulnerable for a large city striving for development. Verkhneingulets system and Zhovtneve reservoir The post-war revival of Mykolaiv was accompanied by rapid industrial growth, which required resources of a completely different order. The underground springs that had saved the city for centuries could no longer satisfy the appetites of the shipbuilding giant. The era of exploration and conquest of river arteries began. In the period from 1949 to 1953, the construction of a strategically important facility — the Verkhnioingulets water supply system in the village of Zhovtneve — began. This was the first attempt to use the resource of the Ingulets River on a large scale. The results were impressive. If in 1950 the system produced 6.000 m³ of water per day, then in a year its capacity almost doubled to 10.000 m³. However, the real engineering heart of this system was the Zhovtneve reservoir. With a usable capacity of 26.8 million m³, it has become a strategic reservoir of the city. The water has come a long way to it. Powerful pumping stations took it from the Ingulets River in the Snihurivka area and transported it to Mykolaiv. At the beginning of 1960, the city already received 60 thousand. m³ of water per day, two-thirds of which was provided by the Verkhnoingulets system, forever pushing underground sources into the background. The 1960s were the time of the final formation of modern water infrastructure. The city's needs grew exponentially, which forced engineers to start work to increase the capacity of the water supply. The cost-effectiveness of the system was also impressive. Thus, due to the scale of production, the cost of one cubic meter of water in 1964 was only 3.57 kopecks. Along with quantity, the problem of quality arose. River water required serious preparation before getting to the taps of the townspeople. In 1968, the second stage of the water supply treatment plant with a capacity of 77 thousand tons was put into operation. m³ per day. It was a complex facility where water passed through a multi- stage filtration and disinfection system, which allowed Mykolaiv to become one of the most clean water cities in the south. This period became the golden age of Mykolaiv hydraulic engineering: the city learned not only to extract water, but also to manage its huge massifs, creating reserves that should guarantee safety for years to come. However, the most ambitious project in the history of the city was ahead — a step towards the mighty Dnipro. 23