Odesa Water Utility💦 — 1️⃣5️⃣3️⃣ years!

Odesa Water Utility💦 — 1️⃣5️⃣3️⃣ years!

153 years ago, the history of centralized water supply in Odesa began.

✅ September 22, 1873 — Wilhelm Schwaben and Englishman John Moore accomplished an extremely challenging engineering task for that time: delivering water from the Dniester River to Odesa over a distance of 40 kilometers and raising it several dozen meters above sea level. The fountain opened that day on Soborna Square became a symbol of technological progress.

✅ 1898 — the first modernization of the Odesa water utility took place, namely the electrification of the Dniester water station. Steam boilers were replaced with powerful electrical equipment, and additional main water pipelines to Odesa were constructed.

✅ August 1941 — “thirst.” Fascist troops seized the Dniester water station, and Odesa became the only city in the world where a rationing system for water was introduced. The daily allowance was half a bucket of water per person.

✅ The 1970s. Another major reconstruction. A two-stage river water treatment technology was introduced at the Dniester water station. In Odesa, biological wastewater treatment plants were built to replace filtration fields.

✅ The 1990s. The water utility underwent changes in its form of ownership, operating both as a municipal enterprise and as a closed joint-stock company. As a result, the facilities and equipment became 55% worn out, while water losses and unaccounted-for consumption in the water supply networks exceeded 45%. The enterprise was on the verge of survival: wages were low, and there was a lack of funds to replace worn-out networks, valves, and other equipment.

✅ 2003. The Odesa City Council leased the water utility to Infox LLC. Within just a few months, Odesa switched to a 24/7 water supply. Infoksvodokanal settled multimillion debts for electricity and installed energy-efficient equipment, reducing electricity consumption by up to 30%. It became the first water utility in Ukraine to introduce modern drinking water disinfection technology using sodium hypochlorite in Odesa and established a 24/7 contact center to assist consumers with all water-related issues.

💧 Infoksvodokanal today is, first and foremost, 2,500 employees dedicated to their work and their city. They continue working under conditions where economically unjustified tariffs leave insufficient funds even for essential needs. Nevertheless, despite all the challenges of wartime, Odesa has water — and we will keep moving forward!