You're reading: Which water to drink

Editor’s Note: This is the final part of a four-part series on the safety of drinking water in Kyiv. It summarizes three previous parts that were dedicated to tap water, water from pumps and wells and water from bottles, and aims to help people make the best choice.   

Most Ukrainians don’t know whether the water they are drinking is pure, nor do they have a way to find out. And sometimes water suppliers don’t want people to know.

“Unfortunately, it’s a question of big money,” said Anna Tsvetkova, water and sanitation program coordinator at MAMA-86, a Ukrainian environmental nongovernmental organization. “Those who pay usually have influence on the results.”

Kyiv residents have three main water options: they may drink it from their kitchen taps, draw water from pumps or wells or buy it in plastic bottles.

Test results that the Kyiv Post commissioned from independent laboratories show there is no ideal choice, but rather advantages and disadvantages with each source of water.

Tap water

Tap water is the cheapest and most convenient option. Assuming a person drinks 900 liters a year, the cost is only Hr 134. The problem lies in outdated tap water purification systems and, consequently, the low quality of water.

Two of three samples checked by the Kyiv Post contained excessive amounts of chlorine, whose byproducts may cause cancer. The water, however, is considerably safer with use of coal filters that remove chlorine, but those cost money – ranging from Hr 150 to Hr 600, not including regular replacement costs.

Pumps and wells

Unlike with tap water, pumps draw from aquifers that don’t contain dangerous chlorine and are free. The water is also praised for being natural and having the right amounts of mineral salts, making it physiologically sound.

One disadvantage is inconvenience. Another is the variable quality of the water. And only half of the 204 pumps located in Kyiv are now functioning.

Water from three pumps checked by the Kyiv Post found that one sample had excessive levels of iron and all of them had problems with hydrogen sulfide, an unpleasant smelling gas which some experts consider to be harmful.

Experts say this water should be left in an open container for several hours, allowing the hydrogen sulfide to evaporate. It is also better not to keep this water in plastic bottles more than 24 hours, as harmful bacteria may appear if it is stored in sunlight.

Well water also can be excessively hard and have too many organic substances.

Bottled water

Bottled water can be an optimal choice for those who don’t want to bother with filters or haul water from pumps.

Getting bottled water delivered to home and office coolers, at a cost of roughly Hr 40 per 18.9-liter bottle, is becoming more and more popular for Kyivans.

The bottled-water market was estimated at 30-35 million euros in 2011, with a growth rate of up to 10 percent each year, according to the Bottled Water Association of Ukraine.

While producers claim bottled water is the safest and healthiest option, the Kyiv Post’s independent check of the 14 most popular bottled water brands in Ukraine revealed that only four brands — Etalon, Alaska, Zhyvoi Istochnik and Slobidska — meet all sanitary rules and norms for the quality of drinking water.

While the other producers challenged the findings, experts say microbes could appear in water bottles because they are badly purified and are often kept in storage for months.

Most of the water samples checked also did not contain sufficient quantities of mineral salts. Others failed chemical tests. And for many residents, this option is too expensive, anyway – about Hr 1,900 per year.
“Of course I drink water from the tap. What other can I drink? I don’t have money to buy water,” one reader wrote to the Kyiv Post.

Caveat emptor

The state program “Drinking Water of Ukraine for 2006-2020” was designed to modernize water treatment plants and water pipes all around Ukraine, so that people had safe and plentiful drinking supplies.

“It is unacceptable to wait for better times when people are suffering without drinking water, or when it is of very poor quality,” President Viktor Yanukovych said at a December press conference.

But officials of Kyiv water treatment company Kyivvodokanal doubt the government will have the money to enact the program. “These programs are not being run today as nobody gives us money,” Volodymyr Kostiuk, the company’s chief engineer said.

Violations of safe drinking-water standards are punishable by fines of less than Hr 500, providing no incentive for improvement, lawyers admit.

So, as with so much else in the nation, people have to take responsibility for themselves.

“Water is a food product which we consume in large quantities, compared other products,” said Anna Moskalenko of the Marzeyev Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, which performed one of the Kyiv Post tests. If the water contains harmful substances, these can accumulate in the body over time and cause damage, she said.

Moskalenko drinks water from a pump because it is safer from a microbiological point of view, in her view, and does not contain chlorine.

What do the authors of this series drink?

Oksana Grytsenko

“I drink tap water but clean it with the help of a pitcher filter. It is made of coal and effectively removes dangerous chlorine, the biggest disadvantage of tap water. I also change cartridges for it regularly,” – Oksana Grytsenko.

Oksana Faryna

“I drink bottled water of a not very well-known brand because it is natural water from aquifers. It is treated only with the help of a mechanical filter which keeps all useful salts and natural microflora in the water at the right level, ” – Oksana Faryna.

Kyiv Post staff writers Oksana Faryna and Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected]

This project was funded by SCOOP, an international network of investigative journalists that receives funding from the Danish government. More information is available at i-scoop.org

Part 1: What’s In Your Water?
(May 25)
Part 2: Pumping deep for a cool drink (June 1)
Part 3: Bottled Water: Which Is Best? (July 13)