"This Is Not a Question of EU Integration, It Is a Question of Survival": Ukraine Faces Shortage of Drinking Water, State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection Says

At the same time, the level of toxins in Ukrainian rivers is exceeded by dozens of times.

Ukraine may face a shortage of quality drinking water within a few decades. This was stated by Vladyslava Mahaletska, head of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, during the Forum on Ecology and Sustainable Development held in Kyiv on November 11.

At the same time, toxin levels in Ukraine's rivers are exceeded by dozens of times.

Insufficient Legislative Standards

According to Mahaletska, Ukraine currently has outdated standards setting water quality requirements, which, moreover, are not met by most suppliers. Therefore, solving this problem is a top priority.

Vladyslava Mahaletska
Head of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection

Decisions have begun to be adopted that will improve the situation: restricting the use of phosphates in detergents and certain pesticides (for example, chlorpyrifos). However, we need to implement European standards more actively. This is not a question of EU integration, it is a question of survival.

Current legislation lacks standards for monitoring indicators of bromates, acrylamide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, vinyl chloride, epichlorohydrin, and electrical conductivity.

Since 2021, standards for four indicators (acrylamide, vinyl chloride, epichlorohydrin, chlorates) in Europe have been 100 times stricter than in Ukraine.

Vladyslava Mahaletska

Our standards urgently need modernization using the experience of the European Union. The State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection supports adapting Ukrainian legislation to European standards.

Ukraine currently has the "State Sanitary Norms and Rules: Hygienic Requirements for Drinking Water Intended for Human Consumption," which lack 23 indicators of drinking water safety and quality contained in the relevant EU directives.

Pollution of Ukrainian Rivers

In essence, Mahaletska confirmed the statements of Ukrainian scientists, who had previously warned of an impending drinking water crisis due to excessive river pollution.

Earlier, it was noted that toxin levels in Ukraine's rivers are mainly exceeded by 40 times.

The cause is the discharge of chemicals, poor wastewater treatment, and clogging of Ukrainian rivers.

In 2020 alone, inspectors detected about four thousand violations in the field of water resources.

This caused damage of nearly UAH 200 million. If the situation does not change, by 2050 water for cooking will have to be bought abroad.

Recall that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky earlier stated that an audit of water resources would be carried out in Ukraine and appropriate steps taken to improve the quality of drinking water.