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 Indicator Until 2022 (fresh water) 2023–2024 (Inhulets/Lyman) Multiplicity Average number of accidents per day 2 – 3 15 Growth 5-7 times Maximum number of accidents Up to 5 per day 10 – 15 per day Growth by 10-15 times Length of pipes to be replaced — 240 km of steel pipes Critical Service life of concrete pipes 50 years The destruction began much earlier Accelerated degradation In total, more than 240 kilometers of steel pipes in the city, which suffered the most, need to be replaced. Salt water also negatively affects reinforced concrete structures, where corrosion of reinforcement leads to cracking of concrete from the inside, which threatens even large-diameter main manifolds. Ecological aspects and degradation of the river ecosystem The use of Ingulets as a source of water supply during the war has exacerbated the existing environmental problems of the region. The river found itself in the center of a vicious circle of man-made influence, where the interests of industry, agriculture and the municipal sector came into sharp conflict. The Inhulets River is the main source for the Inhulets irrigation system. The use of water with high mineralization for irrigation of lands in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions has catastrophic consequences for agrocenoses. Experts warn of the development of the processes of salinization and salinization of soils, which leads to the destruction of their structure, a decrease in fertility and the accumulation of toxic salts in plant products. This poses a threat to the food security of the region, since the restoration of salt marsh soils is an extremely complex and expensive process that requires washing the lands with large volumes of fresh water and applying chemical ameliorants. Regular cycles of "pollution – washing" have led to the fact that the Inhulets River has lost its natural biological identity. Instead of a natural hydrological regime, the river operates in the mode of a man-made canal. Constant discharges of return waters (up to 11 million m³ per year) disrupt the hydrochemical balance, which makes the reservoir unsuitable for the existence of many species of river flora and fauna. Environmentalists emphasize that even if the discharges stop, it will take decades for the ecosystem to restore natural biodiversity. The high salinity of water entering the sewerage system of the city negatively affects the processes of biological treatment at the city OSC (Galitsynove). Microorganisms that carry out wastewater treatment in aeration tanks (activated sludge) are sensitive to changes in osmotic pressure. An increase in the concentration of salts leads to inhibition of their vital activity or complete death, which worsens the quality of wastewater treatment before their discharge into the Buh estuary. In 2024, an increase in the volume of discharge of insufficiently treated 41