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 order to reduce dependence on the power grid, the city and volunteer organizations began to gradually equip strategic issuing points with generators. However, this did not solve the problem completely. Firstly, the power of the generators was not always enough for the full operation of large purification systems. Secondly, it significantly increased the cost of water due to fuel costs and required the constant presence of personnel to maintain equipment. Thus, during the blackouts, drinking water in Mykolaiv became a resource that had to be "hunted" for in short periods of energy stability. This taught the townspeople even more discipline: water supplies in each apartment became a prerequisite, and eggplants on balconies or corridors became an integral part of the interior. Access to water ceased to be a continuous process and turned into a discrete service tied to the general state of the country's energy system. During the periods of the longest blackouts, when the city was left without a stable power supply for hours, the issue of the autonomy of water distribution points became critical. The expectation of "daylight hours" became less and less predictable, so the technical re-equipment of the issuing points became the next logical stage in the struggle for water. Some of the points, especially those created with the support of international humanitarian organizations and large volunteer foundations, began to be equipped with autonomous power sources. The appearance of diesel and gasoline generators near the points of issue changed the sound background of Mykolaiv yards. The characteristic roar of a running engine became a signal for the inhabitants of the surrounding houses: "there is water, the point is working." Generators made it possible to keep pumps and reverse osmosis systems running even when the entire area was immersed in darkness. This relieved some of the tension, because queues for water ceased to depend on the schedules of regional power companies. People could plan their day, knowing that a certain point has its own power resource and will give out water regardless of the state of the general network. In addition to generators, less energy-consuming facilities — for example, small wells or points where deep filtration under high pressure was not required — began to use systems with batteries and inverters. These were quieter, but no less effective solutions that allowed automation and cranes to work during short-term outages. However, autonomy came at a price. Work on generators required constant fuel delivery, engine maintenance and the presence of duty officers who would monitor the equipment. It was a complex logistics network, where fuel became as important a component of the water supply as the filters themselves. The presence of such autonomous points has become a real salvation for the areas where the energy infrastructure was most damaged. This created a certain stability in the chaos of blackouts: even if there was no light in the apartment and the elevator did not work, 55