The new water pipeline in Mykolaiv did not reach the city due to errors found in the project.

The new water pipeline in Mykolaiv has not reached the city: errors found in the project

The construction cost of the water pipeline for Mykolaiv, with a water intake from the Southern Bug, will amount to 5 billion UAH – 40% less than initially expected. This comes despite the fact that errors were identified and corrected in the project.

This was reported by the head of the Recovery Agency, Serhiy Sukhomlyn.

He reminded that Mykolaiv has been without water for over two years, “and the situation is worsening.”

- We certainly do not have time here, - said Sukhomlyn, specifying that the project was initially estimated at 8.7 billion UAH (according to signed contracts – 7.4 billion UAH), but after a detailed analysis, it was revised by the agency.

The project involves the construction of a 65-kilometer water pipeline from the city of Nova Odesa to Mykolaiv.

A feasibility study was already prepared, but errors were discovered there. The water intake station, which houses all the pumping equipment, was planned to be reconstructed rather than built anew. It turned out that over decades, private residential development had expanded around the station, making it non-compliant with sanitary standards and unable to be put into operation.

- We found a new location and will build a new station. This will be more expensive than reconstructing the old one, but we are forced to take this step, - explained Sukhomlyn.

The water intake was originally planned to be located too close to the treatment facilities of Nova Odesa, which are in emergency condition and where discharges occur.

- It would have turned out that Mykolaiv, relying on clean water, would have to intermittently stop this pipeline to allow those discharges to occur, and then restart it. We relocated this intake point — this adds approximately 800 meters to the pipeline, - said the agency head.

Additionally, according to him, the pipeline was supposed to end about 6 kilometers from the city of Mykolaiv.

- Building a pipeline that does not reach the city of Mykolaiv is, in our opinion, not quite the right decision. We started to revise: in cooperation with the Mykolaiv water utility and the regional state administration, we are bringing the pipeline directly to the treatment facilities of Mykolaiv. This also requires additional funding, - said Sukhomlyn.

Furthermore, the original project did not account for frequency converters to synchronize the operation of the pumps. Some proposed pipes had excessive resistance, which would lead to additional electricity costs.

All shortcomings have been addressed. Despite all these changes, the project cost has been reduced from approximately 8.7 billion to about 5 billion UAH due to optimization.

- We estimate that we can put the pipeline into operation by August. We might do it earlier, but the main issue will be with the equipment. For such projects, equipment is ordered, and European manufacturers indicate delivery times of about 4 months, including transportation and installation. But August is the month when the city of Mykolaiv definitely should receive water, - said Sukhomlyn.