In addition, "...it is expected to attract 1.4 billion for the repair and modernization of water infrastructure." "Water of Ukraine will also guarantee open and effective water monitoring and control over the use of water resources.

The decision to establish the national company Water of Ukraine is one of the results of cooperation between the Ministry of Ecology and the European Commission's Directorate-General for the Environment (DG ENVI) on the implementation of environmental legislation.

On April 19, 2023, the first technical dialogue between the Ministry of Ecology and DG ENVI took place to discuss the state of implementation of EU water legislation. In June 2024, it is planned to review the progress of the implementation of water directives in Ukrainian legislation.

Up to 75% of all surface water pollution in Ukraine comes from public utilities (water utilities). Most of the equipment is technologically outdated, and the treatment facilities have exceeded their estimated service life. That is why it is important to address the problem comprehensively.

First of all, it is necessary:

  • to move from one-time sporadic sampling to the introduction of continuous online monitoring of wastewater systems, starting with municipal wastewater treatment plants in regional and possibly large district centers;
  • to transfer responsibility for the average daily weighted average indicators of wastewater when volley discharges longer than their limited duration are prohibited (as opposed to the existing one-time responsibility for an instantaneous sample). The wastewater treatment system is characterized by extremely high instability of quantitative and qualitative indicators of wastewater, which inevitably affects the fluctuation of return water indicators;
  • carry out measures aimed at the modernization and automation of primarily physically worn out wastewater treatment systems;
  • replace water and sewage pumps with auxiliary equipment with automated operation mode, as well as replace ventilation systems and control cabinets;
  • the construction of new water treatment facilities, modernization of water channels in large cities, implementation of pipe rehabilitation will help to stabilize the industry.

According to the latest study, Top 100 Largest Water Polluters, the leaders in terms of the amount of pollutants entering Ukrainian rivers are mainly water utilities and metallurgical enterprises, including Kyivvodokanal, Dniprovsky Iron and Steel Works in Kamianske, Zaporizhstal, Dniprovodokanal, and others. The situation is unlikely to change now. Therefore, in my opinion, we should start modernization with the giants of Ukrainian industry.

The modernization will be carried out with state, grant and loan funds. In order to use them effectively, we need to pay attention to the existing cases of modernization of specialized Ukrainian companies. In addition, it is important to implement European standards in the industry and create institutions that could effectively use loans from international financial institutions.

RPE ENERGO-PLUS LLC regularly participates in the maintenance and modernization of equipment of utility companies. For example, with funds from the World Bank, the company's specialists helped to modernize the pumping stations of a water utility in Kirovograd region, which could not be put into operation for a long time due to a lack of specialists. This allowed the company to save more than UAH 4 million per month on electricity consumption.

Today, it is important to take into account international experience and the capabilities of companies in the production of effective monitoring systems.

RPE "ENERGO-PLUS" LLC is intensively working on the development and implementation of effective automated control systems for the technology of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment and post-treatment using SCADA. This will allow public control through free access to the primary results of their online monitoring.

Thanks to Ukraine's own developments and technologies, Ukraine will be able to independently monitor and modernize enterprises, which will allow for efficient use of funds and development of the technology industry.

According to our experts, the full range of measures at Ukrainian enterprises may take from 2 to 5 years.

Reference: Research and Production Enterprise ENERGO-PLUS operates in the field of design, development, modernization, installation and maintenance of water treatment, water supply and sewage systems, control, diagnostics and dispatching systems for technological installations, electric transport and utilities.