Crimea complains of insufficient drinking water supply
The Crimean population needs the required amount of quality drinking water, said Crimean “Deputy Prime Minister” Yuriy Gotsanyuk at a work group session devoted to planning the installation of water purification plants in Crimea, Krym.Realii reports.
“At present, under conditions where the supply of Dnieper water through the North Crimean Canal has been stopped, Crimean cities and agricultural settlements are being supplied from local sources. All of Crimea’s underground water is being used in the centralized drinking water supply system without preliminary purification. Our task is to determine the most problematic settlements, whose inhabitants are using poor quality drinking water, in order to ensure that steps are taken to install water purification plants,” Gotsanyuk observed.
The official noted that 88% of the Crimean population are using the services of the centralized drinking water supply.
During the work group session, participants put forward technical proposals for the treatment of underground water, and discussed the possibility of desalinating sea water and the associated sanitation and hygiene considerations.
It was reported in July that the dam on the mainland Ukrainian side of the North Crimean Canal is 80% complete, and is scheduled to be finished in Autumn this year. However, water will only be supplied when Crimea is returned to Ukraine’s control.
Ukraine used to supply as much as 85% of Crimea’s fresh water through the North Crimean Canal. When Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014, the water supply to the peninsula was stopped. The Ukrainian government has repeatedly declared that the water supply to annexed Crimea will only be restored once the occupation of the peninsula has ended.