Tram of life — the realities of today in wartime Mykolaiv

Without drinking water, a person can survive for a maximum of seven days — this is precisely what the Russians targeted when they deliberately destroyed Mykolaiv's water pipeline, leaving the city without its most essential resource. The enemy hoped this would force residents to surrender, paving the way for an advance on Odesa. However, the plan fell apart as Ukrainians rallied together, delivering not only water but also food, clothing, and medicine, helping in every possible way to defend the city. Mykolaiv stood its ground, the Russians were pushed back, but residents had to adapt to living with bottled and container water.  In response, the city authorities set up purified water distribution points, and in remote areas, water is delivered by trams and trolleybuses.

Novyny.LIVE journalists also rode on one of these tram runs delivering water.

Water delivery

Tetiana, a driver with thirty years of experience, was one of the first to board the special delivery of drinking water. She says that she was neither scared nor worried, because she realized that people really needed water. Besides, at the beginning of the war, it seemed like it wouldn't last long and that the water supply system would be repaired soon.

"I thought it was just for a while, and then somehow we got into it, got into it, and it worked out. We have been going like this for two and a half years. Overall, these trips aren’t much different, except when there were explosions — it was pretty scary. Once, during a strike, we were standing here, and the tram was literally jolted by the blast. It was really frightening. People instinctively crouched down right where they were," the driver told. 

The woman also emphasizes that, despite the visual difficulties, the work itself is not difficult once you get used to it. And they have already gotten so good at it that they can fill three full tanks in 18 minutes.

"We pull up to the pumping station by tram, fill up the water, connect the hoses, and start loading. It takes six minutes to fill one tank. I hold the hose while the operator presses the buttons. When the tank is almost full, I shout, "That’s enough!" Tetiana added.  

It is worth noting that, despite the fact that quite a few people have returned to Mykolaiv, there is no great rush for mobile water points, as many other places have opened in the city where you can get water at any time. So now, Tetiana jokes, their tram provides for their "regular customers", who find it very convenient to get water close to home.

Mykolaiv without water

Natalia Ivanivna, a pensioner, has been waiting for the tram to deliver water since early morning. Due to her advanced age, it is quite difficult for her to walk to the city's stationary points, so she collects full jugs from the containers brought to the tram stops.

"When we run out of water, we come to get it. It doesn't happen every day, because we don't need much. My husband and I take 10 bottles together — I take 3 and he takes 7. And then we go home. But there are people who come every day," says Nataliia Ivanivna.

The woman also adds that she and her husband do not take too much because there is no great need. And it's hard to carry them alone. Still, the couple keeps a small supply at home "for later".

"We take some extra water, boil it, and leave it for later, because it's hard to carry it every day. We are 80 years old and we have been here since the beginning of the war, when Putin hit the water supply system," the pensioner added.

A young woman, Tetiana, says that she left Mykolaiv at the beginning of the war, so it's hard for her to imagine how people managed without water in those early days. After all, we’ve somewhat gotten used to it, and trips to fetch water have become a part of everyday life.

"It’s very hard to get water because sometimes it’s available, and sometimes it’s not. On the second Thursdays of the month, they don’t distribute it at all, so you have to take a bit extra. But in my opinion, the best water is from the tram. Store-bought water is also good, but it’s expensive. I’m not a big fan of the water from the stationary points — it has a strange aftertaste," Tetiana emphasized. 

Drinking water production

Mykolaiv has now managed to restore the supply of industrial water from the Southern Bug and Inhulets rivers, but the problem with drinking water remains. Utilities were also involved in solving the problem, including Mykolaivelectrotrans, which drilled a well. Then a purification filter was installed, and now this water is delivered to remote areas of the city.

"We drilled three wells at our locations. A reverse osmosis station from the city of Zhytomyr was delivered to us, and we installed it to start purifying and distributing stationary water. Since we had trams and trolleybuses, we decided to retrofit two vehicles with tanks for water delivery. To this day, we distribute purified water: 28 cubic meters per day. The tram delivers 3 cubic meters per trip, while the trolleybus delivers 4 cubic meters," says Yurii Smetana, Director of Mykolaivelectrotrans. 

In general, this way it is possible to make four trips a day to different parts of the city to designated safer locations that are known to all residents. In addition, there are specially designed routes that do not interfere with the movement of urban electric transport with passengers.

The greatest demand for water

Utility workers emphasize that the greatest demand for water is during the warm season, when people are more thirsty. And there are even cases when there is not enough for everyone, but they are extremely rare. In addition, there is currently no way to increase the volume of this water for distribution.

"There are times when the water isn’t enough. But we simply can’t physically deliver and distribute more. That’s why we do everything we can to meet as many residents’ needs as possible. We also have a permanent water distribution point that operates all the time, and people come to fill up as much as they need. There’s no limit—everyone takes as much as they want," Yurii Smetana added. 

Working during power outages

Blackouts are also not uncommon in Mykolaiv, as are outage schedules. However, even on these difficult days, water is still delivered to the citizens. The scheme has already been developed, and so far it has shown itself to be only positive.

"We’ve adjusted the water delivery schedules so that when it’s time to fill up and head to a location, electricity is available. When the tram is distributing water, there’s no electricity at that moment, but it comes back just in time for the next trip. In other words, we’ve aligned our schedules with the hourly power outages," summarizes the director of the utility company.

For 954 days Mykolaiv has been showing its strong character. Residents of this rightfully heroic city prove that all difficulties are temporary, and the main thing is that they are at home, in their native country, and without an enemy yoke around their necks. Resilient Mykolaiv residents in the water queues believe that peace will come soon, and only through Ukraine's victory!

As a reminder, people in Odesa region are protesting against the increase in water tariffs, which is also of poor quality. Mykolaiv has also decided who will build a water pipeline to supply the city with fresh water.

In addition, on Thursday, November 21, thousands of residents of Odesa will be left without water supply for the entire day. The reason for this is repair work on emergency water supply facilities. Utilities promise to resume supply late in the evening.