In the village of Myla in the Dmytrivka community, drinking water from wells and artesian boreholes has been banned. All eleven drinking-water samples taken on 4 September fail to meet sanitary standards.

This was announced by the Dmytrivka territorial community.

What was found in the water

The samples were taken by specialists of the state institution Kyiv Regional Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, at the residential buildings closest to the site of the 28 August strike on Myla. Eight soil samples were taken at the same time.

The water was found to contain petroleum products, anionic surfactants, polyphosphates and phenols. According to the centre, this indicates chemical contamination of the aquifer.

The distinction matters. This is not about a few spoiled wells that can be cleaned out, but about the underground layer that feeds them. Such a layer does not stop at the boundary between villages.

Nose and tongue will not warn you

Water takes on the characteristic smell and taste of petroleum only from a concentration of about 0.5 milligrams per litre — five times the maximum permitted level. This is set out by the sanitary and hygiene laboratory of the Chernihiv regional centre for disease control and prevention. In other words, water can exceed the norm several times over and still taste ordinary.

Boiling does not help here: it kills micro-organisms but not chemicals. The same Kyiv regional centre explained this a month ago, when it was testing water in the Borshchahivka community. It warned separately then that household filters do not guarantee purification in such a situation either — they are designed for specific substances.

Earlier we reported that the Borshchahivka community began delivering drinking water after contamination was found near wells and boreholes.

Which addresses are affected

The water was tested at ten addresses: Shevchenka Lane 1, 15 and 34; Prorizna Street 2; Promizhna Street 10; Shevchenka Street 5, 6 and 9 — at one of these addresses water was taken both from a well and from an artesian borehole; Komarova Street 25 and 27.

There are ten addresses but eleven samples — precisely because two sources were checked at one of them.

The ban covers drinking, cooking and any other use that involves taking the water internally. It stays in force until new laboratory results and a separate announcement.

What happens next

Testing for other chemical and microbiological indicators hazardous to health, as well as of the eight soil samples, is continuing. The community says it will report the results separately.

Where residents should get water instead of from their wells is not stated in the announcement. Deliveries of drinking water for those affected in Myla were arranged back on 31 August, as part of the immediate assistance after the strike — whether this covers all the listed addresses is not specified. Questions can be put to the community hotline: 097 998 92 70.

Earlier we reported that Myla is accepting applications for compensation for damaged housing.

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