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 pulled from salt, and the hair became stiff, as if after swimming in the sea. Housewives watched with pain how home flowers, which had been pleasing to the eye for years, began to turn yellow. It turned out that even nature is not ready for such a concentration of chlorides and sulfates. Fig. 1.25. Wartime artifact: a jar of drinking water is the best gift (photo by the author). Cooking with this water has become completely impossible. Any attempt to cook soup or make tea turned into a fiasco: salt made the dish bitter, and the chemical smell of chlorine did not disappear even after prolonged boiling. Mykolaiv turned into a city of queues, which became its new social face. Typical water scenes of that time are the moments captured in the photo (Fig. 1.20-1.22) where human endurance borders on despair. The main sources of life were three parallel streams. First, wells. People were drawn to private courtyards or territories of enterprises and institutions, where fresh water could still be obtained from the ground. Secondly, volunteer and imported water. Odesa water carriers and trucks from other cities have become a symbol for Mykolaiv that it has not been forgotten. And finally, bottled water, which for many has become the only guarantor of safety, although its purchase every day significantly "hit" the modest budgets of families, especially the elderly. The city has adapted. Mykolaiv residents have learned to distinguish water by taste, color and smell, knowing by heart the schedules of delivery and the addresses of the nearest drinking water points. It was a transformation of a fundamental right: what is considered a basic service around the world has become a daily quest here, where the prize was the opportunity to simply drink clean water or cook lunch. It was at this time that a painful break in consciousness occurred. Water has ceased to be something that appears after turning the tap. It was the result of hard physical labor and waiting. Each liter was counted: how much for cooking, how much for hygiene, how much for technical needs. Access to water has turned from a "natural right" into a "spoil of war". 44