Nazava provides safe drinking water in Ukraine

Safe water supply is severely limited in many war-struck regions in Ukraine. Russian artillery continue to attack utilities including clean drinking water sources. As a result, more than 13 million Ukrainians are without safe drinking water. Learn how Nazava is helping to restore drinking water access and how you can help provide 10,000 water filters to war victims.

The war has had devastating impacts on safe drinking water across Ukraine. As in many former Soviet Republics, drinking water infrastructure is highly centralized in Ukraine [1]. Thus, water utilities make an easy target for the Russian military, which has repeatedly attacked civilian areas. Many Soviet era water supply systems are already old and in need of repair and the war has only hastened their demise.

In Mariupol, Russian forces destroyed the city’s main canal for drinking water early in the war and destroyed all of the city’s water pumps over course of three-month long siege. The southern city of Mykolaiv has been without drinking water since April when Russians destroyed two pipelines from the Dnipro River, cutting the city off from its main source of drinking water. Similar incidents are happening all over Ukraine. The situation is particularly dire in Eastern Ukraine, which has suffered from conflict long before the February 2022 invasion.

Repairing water infrastructure in battle-stricken areas is a dangerous and costly task. According to several organizations in Unicef’s WASH cluster, at least four water technicians have been injured since the start of the war.

Waterborne diseases present a hidden front in the war.

Areas without safe water access face an increased risk of waterborne diseases. Children are especially at risk: according to Unicef, children in conflict areas are 20 times more likely to die from diarrheal diseases linked to unsafe water than from violence. Since the end of the siege on Mariupol the Russian occupiers have only partially restored water to the city. This water though has been shown to be contaminated with fecal matter. Both Mariupol and Mykolaiv have experienced cholera outbreaks in the past and experts warn of a future outbreak if safe water access is not restored.

Water filters provide a low-cost, high-quality solution to Ukraine’s drinking water problem.

It’s unclear when, if ever, Ukraine’s drinking water supply systems will be restored. Thus, decentralized solutions are urgently needed to reach the growing millions of Ukrainians without safe water access. Through our long-term partnership with Unicef, Nazava provided 10,000 filters in April 2022 to people in Ukraine. Nazava Water Filters allow war victims to purify dirty tap, well, or rainwater so that it is free of bacterial contamination.

Help Nazava provide an additional 10,000 water filters to Ukraine

Safe, reliable drinking water access is vitally important. That’s why Nazava has partnered with DeLeeuwKyiv, SaveUA, and Rotary Estoi Palace International to provide an additional 10,000 water filters to Ukraine. Nazava Prot3ct filters are produced at our factory in Indonesia before being sent to Ukraine. Once in Ukraine the filters are assembled using locally sourced materials at a facility employed by internally displaced peoples. The fully assembled units are then distributed to areas in need free of charge.

Donate Now!

With your support, we can reach 50,000 children and vulnerable people on the front lines of the war in Ukraine. We are raising €210,000 to support local production and distribution costs. On October 18, Russians conducted a wave of attacks on critical Ukranian infrastructure in what appears to be a coordinated attempt to destroy Ukraine’s electricity and water supplies before winter. Thus, the Ukrainian people need your support more now more than ever. Visit the fundraising page of DeLeeuwKyiv to donate now!

Author: Steven Ramsey, [email protected]

Reference:

[1] : “World Bank. 2021. Ukraine Water Supply and Sanitation Policy Note : Toward Improved, Inclusive, and Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Services. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank. https://openknledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35854 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”