Feces in the Buh Estuary and Vitovka? “Mykolaivvodokanal” discharges untreated wastewater

Mykolaivvodokanal Municipal Enterprise discharged 15.941 million cubic meters of polluted wastewater into the Buh Estuary and the Vitovka River in 2025. Of this volume, 2.875 million cubic meters entered water bodies untreated. The enterprise remains the largest source of polluted wastewater among utility companies in Mykolaiv Oblast.

The water utility accounted for 88.2% of all polluted wastewater discharged into the region’s surface waters. If only housing and communal services companies are considered, its share is about 90%. The enterprise’s share of all untreated polluted wastewater discharged in the oblast is even higher — 93.2%.

These figures are included in the regional report on the state of the environment in Mykolaiv Oblast for last year, published in September 2026.

After a sharp drop at the start of the full-scale war, the total volume of the enterprise’s polluted wastewater increased each year. The figures for previous years were:

• 2021 — 20.707 million cubic meters;
• 2022 — 11.518 million cubic meters;
• 2023 — 14.006 million cubic meters;
• 2024 — 14.648 million cubic meters.

The latest annual figure is about 77% of the pre-war level. The report explains why wastewater volumes are increasing again:

“This trend is due to the gradual recovery of daily life in Mykolaiv after the sharp decline in water consumption during the first year of the full-scale war. Between 2023 and 2025, the population returning to the city grew, and businesses, food-service establishments, service providers, and other economic entities resumed operations, contributing to an increase in the volume of centralized wastewater collection,” the regional report says.

At the same time, the volume of wastewater discharged untreated is also increasing. Previous figures were as follows:

• No such discharges were recorded in 2021;
• In 2022 — 1.086 million cubic meters;
• In 2023 and 2024 — 1.628 million cubic meters each year.

Over four years, the volume of untreated discharges increased 2.6-fold.

The Executive Committee of Mykolaiv City Council approved Mykolaivvodokanal’s investment program for 2027. Its main priorities include:

• Restoring water supply and wastewater networks;
• Reconstructing the pumping station and sewage treatment facilities in Halytsynove.

The executive committee’s decision also provides for a UAH 24 increase in the wastewater tariff in Mykolaiv starting October 1. It is set to reach UAH 41.25 per cubic meter.

Previously, we wrote: