In the village of Horenychi in the Bilohorodka community, residents of three streets are temporarily advised not to use water from wells and boreholes for drinking or cooking. The reason is the chemical contamination of drinking water in neighbouring Myla, which belongs to the Dmytrivka community.

This was announced by the Bilohorodka village council.

Which streets

Pryozerna, Pivnichna and Petrushkivska — the closest to Myla. Samples will be taken from the water sources on these streets and sent for laboratory testing.

Until the results are in, bottled water is recommended for drinking and cooking.

What matters here

The council stresses that contamination of water in the Bilohorodka community has not been established. The temporary advice is a precaution for the duration of the tests. The results and further recommendations will be announced separately.

The caution is understandable. In Myla not one of eleven samples passed, and the laboratory recorded contamination of the aquifer with petroleum products, phenols and surfactants. The underground layer that feeds the wells does not respect administrative boundaries — Horenychi and Myla sit side by side.

One more thing worth remembering from the Myla story: boiling kills micro-organisms but not chemicals, and household filters do not guarantee purification in such a situation. The Kyiv regional centre for disease control and prevention warned of this.

Earlier we reported that drinking water from wells in Myla was banned — even the artesian borehole turned out to be contaminated.