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 industrial centers. The end of the 80s brought a new wave of modernization: in 1988, electric drives and automated control systems began to be massively introduced at pumping stations, which allowed the system to work as a single well-coordinated mechanism. With the advent of Dnieper water, the need for old springs began to disappear. During 1984–1992, nine wells in Zhovtneve were permanently mothballed due to the rapid deterioration of water quality — underground horizons were depleted and salted. Priority was finally given to the Dnieper (Fig. 1.15). The final chord for the development of this system in peacetime was the completion of the construction of the fourth stage of the water pipeline in 2002. At that time, Mykolaiv had one of the longest and most complex water supply systems in Ukraine. The city is accustomed to the fact that Dnipro water is a natural and inexhaustible good. No one could imagine then that this 73-kilometer steel network, which became the key to the prosperity of Mykolaiv, would one day turn into its most vulnerable point and target for enemy attack. Fig. 1.15. Water intake structures on the Dnieper River in the village of Mykilske, Kherson region (photo from open sources). Tech giant on feet of clay: ahead of 2022 Before the full-scale invasion, the water infrastructure of Mykolaiv was a colossal engineering complex. It was a well-coordinated ecosystem of buildings spread over a huge area of 175 hectares. A single technological process — from taking water from the Dnieper, transporting it through a 73-kilometer aqueduct to multi-stage treatment and distribution through city networks — worked like a clock that ensured the life of the entire city. Водозабірні споруди на р. Дніпро 25