WASH Central and Eastern Europe, West and Central Asia

Numerous governmental programs for reforms in the housing and utilities sector of Ukraine suggest that "in many regions, drinking water supply is a priority problem that must be addressed to protect health and improve living conditions and living standards of residents"1.

Reforms in the sector were initiated more than 10 years ago. In the course of reforms, substantial changes were achieved, including decentralisation of management functions in the sector, delegation of infrastructure management functions and responsibilities to local authorities, development of underlying laws and regulations in the sphere of drinking water supply, organisational and structural reforms in the sphere, improvement of economic mechanisms and introduction of tariff reforms for full cost recovery of utilities and implementation of activities for improvement of water supply and sanitation infrastructures and facilities.

However, all these reforms and actions are predominantly focused on centralised water supply and sanitation and users of these centralised systems. At the same time, problems of decentralised systems of water supply and sanitation that are mainly used by residents of small towns and rural settlements do not attract adequate attention of governmental authorities and reforms in the sector.

Official statistics suggests that quality of rural water supply in Ukraine still remains rather low in comparison with European and CIS countries. Notwithstanding that more than 55 thousand km of water mains and more than 70 thousand artesian wells were constructed in rural areas (mainly for water supply of large agricultural facilities, that met 98% of their water demand in mid-1990s), the overall rate of provision of centralised water supply services in rural areas was almost twice lower comparatively to average figures of the former USSR. Now, the number of rural buildings in Ukraine equipped by internal water supply and sanitation networks is 3 times lower than in Russia and 4 times lower than in Belarus.

According to official reports2, in 2004, only 4.1 million rural residents in Ukraine, from the overall figure of 15.7 million (or 26%) used centralised water supply services. Buildings of only 7.4% of rural residents are equipped by internal water supply networks. A similar situation is observed in connection with other amenities as well: sanitation (4.4%), water heating (8.4%), hot water supply (0.3%), street standpipes (18.6%). In 2003, the water consumption norm reached only 60 litres capita in rural areas, while in urban areas the relevant figure was as high as 320 litres.

5.7 million urban residents and 11.7 million rural residents use drinking water from local sources, including shallow wells, captages, springs etc. (it is worth to note that in the majority of cases these sources are of inadequate technical conditions).

Besides that, in 13 oblasts of Ukraine, more than 800 thousand residents of 1200 rural settlements rely on water trucks for drinking water supply.

The situation in the sphere of coverage by centralised sanitation services is much worse in compare with water supply. In 2004, centralised sanitation systems served 95% of cities, 56% of townships and 3% of rural settlements.

During the years of independence the coverage of the rural population on water supply and sanitation services has decreased and in 2007 the official figures are lower then in 2004. According to the National Report on Drinking Water and drinking water supply in 2007 the percentage of the rural settlements with centralized water supply decreased till 21.% from 26% in 2000, and with centrilized sanitation – till 2, 6% when following: 2, in ruThis statistics

Only about 8.8% of rural residents use centralised sanitation services (or less than 1.4 million residents). The rest of them (or 14.3 million persons) use decentralised sanitation systems - pit latrines or septic tanks that might be used by an individual household or by several households. Septic tanks should be regularly cleaned - owners should organise removal of sediments from septic tanks and pay for these services. However, there are no official regulations that prescribe how often septic tanks should be cleaned. As a result, many septic tanks may be never cleaned.3

According to expert estimates4, about 0.9 billion m³ (or 20% of the overall amount) of municipal wastewater are accumulated annually in septic tanks and pit latrines, that are outside governmental control and regulation.

The problem of wastewater treatment and utilisation is fairly relevant in rural areas, regardless specific sanitation systems in use (centralised or decentralised). From the overall figure of 52 million m³ of wastewater inflows to rural sanitation systems, about 22% are discharged without treatment, 37% undergo primary treatment prior to discharge to surface water bodies and 41% undergo primary and secondary treatment.

Poor technical conditions of outdated sanitation networks, wastewater treatment plants or pit latrines and septic tanks, as well as irregular removal of accumulated wastes, result in wastewater releases and substantial bacterial and chemical environmental contamination, including groundwater pollution. Accounting for the fact that shallow wells fitted by ground water are used in rural areas as the key source of drinking water supply, the problem of safe water supply in rural areas may be resolved only by implementation of measures to prevent infiltration of untreated wastewater to environment and to introduce efficient wastewater treatment technologies.

Now, as a result of irrational usage of nature resources and high industrial loads, there are growing zones of polluted groundwater at large territories. Groundwater in these zones contains high concentrations of nitrates, traces of pesticides and heavy metals. These contaminants do not allow local residents to use such groundwater for drinking purposes.

Local facilities of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Service monitor 7,810 rural water supply networks (from the overall number of 8,047). In 2003, 9.5% of rural water supply networks do not meet applicable sanitary standards, while in 2005 the relevant figure reached 8.7%. In particular, in 2005, 17.1% of water samples did not meet chemical sanitary standards and 7% of samples did not meet bacteriological standards.

At the same time, quality of water from decentralised water sources (wells and sources) is much worse. According to official data, in recent years (2003 - 2005), about 32% samples of water from decentralised water sources did not meet applicable chemical sanitary standards and 23 - 29.5% of samples did not meet bacteriological standards.

Experts of the Central Sanitary and Epidemiological Facility of the Ministry of Health Protection of Ukraine identified growing nitrate pollution levels in groundwater used for drinking purposes by the majority of rural residents. Elevated nitrate levels in water pose serious health risks, including children's water related methemoglobinemia. Nitrates suppress general human resistance to diseases and provoke higher morbidity, including higher incidence of infections and cancer.

Opportunities to resolve problems of water supply and sanitation in rural areas and provision of clean drinking water and adequate sanitation services to rural residents directly depend on reforms in the sector. Now, problems in the sphere are associated with incomplete transferring of rural water supply and sanitation infrastructures to local authorities, lack of specialised organisations in charge of their maintenance, lack of laboratory capacity at the operational level, lack of an adequate state program to support the development of rural settlements (including, in particular, state programs for provision of safe drinking water supply and adequate sanitation services to rural residents).

Since 1997 MAMA-86 in closed cooperation with local communities and authorities has implemented several projects related to improvement the access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation in rural areas of Ukraine. The main tasks of these projects in the framework of Drinking water campaign are to work on the following three directions:

informational and educational activities;

implementation of pilot projects;

involvement of broad public in the decision making process on the drinking water problems at local, national and international levels.

MAMA-86 pilot projects in the rural area are being implemented in Poltava Oblast, Yaremcha district and the town of Nizhyn and Nizhyn District. They are focused on the following:

well water quality analysis;

improvement of public awareness regarding the water problems;

implementation of technical solutions of drinking water quality improvement;

facilitation of arrangements for water supply and its maintenance based on self-governing within several case studies.

The results of implementation of the pilot projects in 2001-2003 were the following:

over 150 wells of collective and individual use were monitored;

the inventarization /passportization of wells in Chernihiv Oblast, Yaremcha District of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast was initiated;

the independent studies/water quality analyzes of over 200 wells in Yaremcha District of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, in the town of Nizhyn and Nizhyn District, as well as in Lokhvytsia District were conducted;

wells cleaning services for local residents in Yaremcha and Nizhyn Districts were established, more than 50 wells in Yaremcha District of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and in the town of Nizhyn and Nizhyn District were cleaned out;

old water pipeline supplying 3000 residents of the village of Pisky, Lokhvytsia District, Poltava Oblast was rehablilitated , as well as in 6 villages the water pumps were replaced and the local water supply system renewed their operation.

Since 2003 in the framework of MATRA project Cooperationtogether with WECF partner MAMA-86 continues work on improvement the access to safe water with focus on sanitation and protection of ground water – drinking water sources in rural areas. The main results of this project were in the sphere of:

Drinking water supply:

rehabilitation of the water supply network in Vorokhta village of Yaremche rayon (construction of 195 metres of water mains and connection of 4 households to the water supply network, more than 100 local residents were able to connect to the centralised water supply system);
rehabilitation of wells (sources of drinking and technical water) and construction of water supply mains to the school in Bobryk village, construction of the artesian well to supply water to a kindergarten in Vertijivka village of Nizhyn rayon;
rehabilitation of the community well in Gozhuly village (Poltava district). At the same time, natural fluoride pollution of water in Gozhuly was identified (fluoride levels in the water reached 7 - 9 mg/l, or in 5 - 6 times higher than the applicable standard) and awareness raising actions were launched to inform schoolchildren and their parents on prevention of dental fluorosis. According to the local school administration, 80% of schoolchildren suffer from dental fluorosis. In connection with these findings, independent water analysis was conducted, and Ukrainian and international experts were involved into search for technical solutions to address the problem.

In the area sanitation:

5 individual eco-toilets in Vorokhta, one eco-toilet in Bobryk and one eco-toilet in Vertijivka in Chernigivska oblast were constructed.

Ecosan is one of the main focus of WASH activity in Ukraine since 2004. More then 40 ecosan toilets for individual households were built and put into operation in 8 regions of Ukraine. The introduction of grey water treatment facilities for rural households is on plans. Since 2005 when in the framework of Today the ecosan technologies.

Schools WSS in Ukraine

There are 20,5 thousands general educational institutions in Ukraine now, among them nearly 12,6 thousands (61%) are in a rural area. There are 6,0 million schoolboys that study in general educational institutions (further - institutions). 1650 (8%) of institutions do not meet sanitary-and-hygienic requirements concerning water supply, the overwhelming majority 1583 (96%) is in a rural areas. A lot of such institutions are in Ivano-Frankivska (29%) and Ternopilska 21% oblasts.

1832 (9%) schools do not meet sanitary-and-hygienic requirements on sanitation, among them 1725 (94%) are in a rural area. The majority of such schools are in Dnepropetrovska - 36% and Ivano-Frankivska - 22% oblasts.

According to the information of the State Sanitary-and-Epidemiologic Service (SES) in 2006-2007 reconstruction and repair of the water supply and wastewater networks were made in 2100 schools (10%), including 1358 (65%) rural schools.

However 1557 schools (7.6%), including 1205 (77%) rural schools, need a reconstruction or repair of water supply and canalization systems still. The biggest part of such institutions is in Khersonska - 24% and Nikolaevska - 16% oblasts.

3772 schools (18%), from them in a rural area - 3598 (95%), are not connected to the centralized water supply or local water supply pipeline. Most of such institutions are in Lvivska - 45%, Ternopilska - 36% and Chernigivska - 34% oblasts.

690 (3.4%) schools, from them in a rural area - 659 (96%), use transported water.

There is no improvement during last years in Nikolaevska - 27%, Zhitomirska -17% and Zaporizka-16.8% oblasts.

There is a tendency on deterioration of schools’ sanitation. 8507 schools (41%) have no centralized sanitation and are not connected to local waste water treatment plants. 8207 (39%) schools use septic tanks or pit latrines, 7418 schools (87%) are in rural areas.

Some schools do not have any sanitation facilities. In Sumska oblast there are 72 such schools. In Khmelnitska oblast there are 80 rural schools which are working without canteens and sanitation conditions. There is no centralized hot water supply in 8470 schools (42%), from them - 6177 (72%) are in a rural area. Most of such schools are in Chernigivska, Odeska and Luganska oblasts. At schools with canteens the situation is better; at the same time 10% (1698) schools’ canteens do not have centralized hot water supply.

During 2007 laboratories of the State SES bodies carried out 17357 analysises of potable water from the centralized sources of water supply on chemical parameters and 23327 analysises on sanitary-microbiological parameters. Among them 6.1% (2006 – 7.4%) samples did not meet the state standards on sanitary-chemical parameters, and 4.7% (2006 – 6.1%) - on sanitary-microbiological ones.

For the last 2 years over 10% of samples of potable water sampled from decentralized water supply sources did not meet sanitary norms on sanitary-chemical parameters and 9.4% - on sanitary-microbiological parameters. In 2006-2007 the portion of non-standard samples of water from rural decentralized schools’ water supply sources on sanitary-chemical parameters was 13.1%, and on sanitary-microbiological parameters – 9.7%.

Annually the issue about schools’ water supply state is on the agenda of the sessions of the Executive Committees of the City Councils and Rayon Administrations. SES Experts send the analytical information to the local executive authorities and local council authorities and give orders to the Departments of education.

Territorial administrations and departments of education have developed the comprehensive plans on improvement of material base of educational institutions in order to meet the requirements of the sanitary legislation which are approved by the executive and council authorities.

The measures on improvement of water supply and sanitation of educational institutions are included into regional programs on education development, "Health of the nation", program on prevention of occurrence of virus Hepatitis A.

Issues about progress on implementation of the Orders of the Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine from 02.09.2004, № 28, About actions on maintenance of sanitary and epidemic well-being of pupils of the general educational institutions, have been discussed regularly at the Oblasts SES boards’ sessions.

Actions of strengthening of the State Sanitary-Epidemiology supervision of the preparation and operation of the general educational institutions in 2007-2008 educational years were developed and approved by Orders of the Chief State Sanitary Doctors of corresponding administrative units.

In 2007 for noncompliance of requirements of the sanitary legislation related to the water supply and waste water treatment in general educational institutions 899 responsible persons were called to account to the administrative responsibility, the work of 1102 general educational institutions was stopped temporarily.

Since 2003 with a financial support of Foundation Ensemble and WECF 3 school eco-toilets for 3 rural schools with more then 650 schoolchildren were constructed in 3 oblasts of Ukraine (Poltavska oblast v. Gozhuly, Chernigivska oblast v. Bobryk and in Odeska oblast v. Stepanovka)

Now the focus on safe water and sanitation, hygiene for children is one of the focus points of WASH activities in Ukraine

National program "Drinking Water of Ukraine" for 2006 - 2020. March 3, 2005. No. 2455-IV.

The national report on quality of drinking water and drinking water supply in Ukraine in 2004.

The national report on quality of drinking water and drinking water supply in Ukraine in 2003.

"The National Strategy of Development of the Water Sector of Ukraine and the Action Plan" - Interim Report , June 2002, DANCEE, the Ministry of Environment of Denmark, the State Committee of Ukraine for Housing and Utilities (COWI Report, 2002)