Access to safe water for rural communities

Ukraine | 2024 | CBPF

Ukraine, Vysokopillia. “I live alone here. The only water I had was not drinkable – it was very salty. I would go and collect it from my neighbour’s wells instead, carrying two buckets at a time,” explains Oryslava, in her eighties, who lives in the Kherson region.

The region has been drastically affected by the war. Almost every house in the village has been either damaged or destroyed. In addition to the hostilities, the breach of the Kakhovka Dam in 2023 caused the water levels in wells and private boreholes to drop significantly, further complicating local people’s access to clean water.

Across Ukraine, access to essential services such as health care, clean water and heating is increasingly difficult; not just in the oblasts along the front line but everywhere, as attacks on essential services have affected people across the country.

An estimated 8.5 million people will need water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in 2025.

Overall, one fifth of households have experienced constrained access to safe water, with over half of the issues directly associated with the war. These are even more pronounced near the front line, with frequent or prolonged interruptions in service, and shelling and security challenges making it more difficult to make repairs.

Power outages in regions far from the frontlines also interrupt water supplies, due to infrastructure under attack.

Southern Development Strategy, in cooperation with ACTED and with the financial support of the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, is installing filters in war-affected communities where water-supply systems have been damaged by the conflict – including Oryslava’s village.

The NGO provided the local utility company with materials for laying street water pipes, drilled a well and installed a pump and a water tower: getting clean water to a largely elderly population who were struggling.

“Due to low pressure, many houses simply had no water. We used to go to the farm to collect water. It was a little better at the farm, but we still had to filter it,” says Olha, a resident of Sadok village in the Kherson region, where one of these water towers has been recently installed.

Now, Olha and Oryslava can access clean water close to home.

Based on original stories from the UN in Ukraine

More information about the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund.

Pooled Fund impact stories