Water resources of Ukraine are crucial for the life of the population and development of the national economy. They are sources of industrial and economic- drinking water supply.

In Ukraine there is no surface water object, which would be in the ecological state of the first category of water objects (Strokal, 2021). The state of water resources of Ukraine is not satisfactory.

The actual ecological problems of water resources of Ukraine are: pollution by industrial and household sewage, harmful products, insufficient work of treatment facilities, complete absence of treatment facilities at industrial enterprises, excessive anthropogenic load on water objects, deterioration of quality of drinking water, radiation pollution of many river basins as a result of the Chernobyl accident, change of climate, war.

One of the biggest problems of pollution is poor quality of sewage treatment. The high temperature in the summer period causes mass "blooming" of water and has a significant influence on the quality of water.

The most acute situation is observed in the basins of the Dnieper, the Donets, the rivers of the Priazov, separate tributaries of the Dniester and the Western Bug, where the quality of water is classified as “very dirty” (Ekolohichna sytuatsiia ta stan pytnykh vod Ukrainy, 2015). Pollution of surface waters significantly affects the quality of underground waters, which are actively used for drinking and other purposes.

Practically all the water bodies of the country are approaching the III and IV grades of quality that is characterized as polluted and dirty (Snitynskyi et al , 2014). Violations of water quality standards reached levels that lead to deterioration of the state of water ecosystems, reduction of water efficiency. The use of low-quality water for vital needs threatens the health of the population.

Ukraine’s water resources are a strategic, vital, natural resource, so we must apply all necessary measures for the conservation, protection and rational use of these resources.

References:

1. Strokal, V. (2021). Transboundary rivers of Ukraine: perspectives for sustainable development and clean water. Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences.  Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1943815X.2021.1930058
2. Ekolohichna sytuatsiia ta stan pytnykh vod Ukrainy [Environmental situation and state of drinking water in Ukraine]. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.ecoleague.net/diialnist/vydannia-vel/ekolohichni-karty/ekolohichna-svtuatsiia-ta-stan-pytnvkh-vod-ukrainy
3. Snitynskyi, V. V., Antoniak, H. L., Bahdai, T. V., Bubys, O. Ye., & Panas, N. Ye. (2014). Suchasnyi stan ta ekolohichni problemy vodnykh resursiv Ukrainy. Zhurnal ahrobiolohii ta ekolohii [Current status and environmental problems of water resources in Ukraine. Journal agrobiology and environmentology]. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287817659 Current status and environmental problems of water resources in Ukraine