‼️ Odesa’s water supply💧 and sewer networks are longer than the European continent 😱🌎

‼️ Odesa’s water supply💧 and sewer networks are longer than the European continent 😱🌎

Tap water may seem so ordinary that we rarely think about the journey it takes before reaching our kitchens. But perhaps we should 😉

Here are 5 facts about Odesa’s water supply system that you may not have known 👇

🥩 1. Water was once almost a luxury

230 years ago in Odesa, a pound of meat (about 400 g) cost as much as two buckets of water. 😳

If we applied the same ratio to today’s prices, one cubic meter of water would cost around 4,000 UAH.

So don’t say that utility tariffs are always too high 😄

Centralized water supply really does make life better! 🚰

🚰 2. Odesa’s current water supply system is actually the second one

The first water supply system operated for only 20 years — from 1853 to 1873.

It was 12 kilometers long and connected the Velykyi Fontan spring with the city center.

However, the quality of the water deteriorated year after year, eventually leading to the bankruptcy of the water system’s owner, Tymofii Kovalevskyi.

🚽 3. The sewer system appeared 15 years later

Odesa’s sewer system is 15 years younger than its water supply system.

The first sewer collector leading to filtration fields, also known as “irrigation fields,” was built in 1888.

Before that, wastewater was simply discharged into Odesa Bay. 🤢

💦 4. In 1920, Odesa had “water days”

Following military operations, equipment at the Dniester water station was damaged, while fuel for the pumps was in short supply.

Water gradually accumulated in the reservoirs of one of the pumping stations in Odesa, and once there was enough, it was supplied to the network.

Odesa residents learned about this from newspapers, which announced the specific days when water would be available. 💧

🚗 5. Odesa’s water supply and sewer networks are longer than the European continent 🌎

The total length of Odesa’s pipelines exceeds 5,500 kilometers.

That is greater than the distance between Europe’s northernmost and farthest southern points.

💙 153 years later, water remains one of those things whose true value we understand especially well when it is unavailable.