More river pollution from untreated urban waste due to the Russian-Ukrainian war: a perspective view

ABSTRACTSince 24 February 2022, the Russian-Ukrainian war has impacted Ukrainian water resources including river pollution. In this perspective paper, our proposition is that the Russian-Ukrainian war causes likely more river pollution with untreated urban waste compared to the pre-war period. In or...

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Main Authors: Vita Strokal, Anna Kurovska, Maryna Strokal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/1943815X.2023.2281920
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author Vita Strokal
Anna Kurovska
Maryna Strokal
author_facet Vita Strokal
Anna Kurovska
Maryna Strokal
author_sort Vita Strokal
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACTSince 24 February 2022, the Russian-Ukrainian war has impacted Ukrainian water resources including river pollution. In this perspective paper, our proposition is that the Russian-Ukrainian war causes likely more river pollution with untreated urban waste compared to the pre-war period. In order to check this assumption, we synthesize the current knowledge with a focus on the Dnipro Basin, containing 80% of the national water resources. Our synthesis reveals three main arguments. First, water-related infrastructures that were damaged as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war are the important causes of pollutant release to water systems. These infrastructure damages are estimated, on average, for rural (30% of irrigation systems) and urban (35–40% of treatment plants and sewage connections) areas or both (40–90% of bridges and dams). Second, water pollution sources tend to change towards direct inputs of untreated urban waste with multiple pollutants compared to the pre-war period. Third, our illustrative example for nutrients, a painkiller, an antibacterial agent, and microplastics from urban waste showed an increase of 2–34% in their loadings into the Dnipro River due to damaged sewage pipes and wastewater treatment plants in 2022. In addition, 20–62% of those pollutants are from untreated urban waste (point sources). We propose a framework for future steps including visualizing (V) and integrating (I) the impacts into tools for quantification as well as translating (T) those quantified insights into actionable strategies and assessing (A) their feasibilities for pollution reduction.
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spelling doaj.art-c1545742047c49b69d70654a9cfa7b5d2023-12-21T19:45:14ZengTaylor & Francis GroupJournal of Integrative Environmental Sciences1943-815X1943-81682023-12-0120110.1080/1943815X.2023.2281920More river pollution from untreated urban waste due to the Russian-Ukrainian war: a perspective viewVita Strokal0Anna Kurovska1Maryna Strokal2Department of Agrosphere Ecology and Environmental Control, Faculty of Plant Protection, Biotechnology and Ecology, the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, UkraineDepartment of Agrosphere Ecology and Environmental Control, Faculty of Plant Protection, Biotechnology and Ecology, the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, UkraineWater Systems and Global Change Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The NetherlandsABSTRACTSince 24 February 2022, the Russian-Ukrainian war has impacted Ukrainian water resources including river pollution. In this perspective paper, our proposition is that the Russian-Ukrainian war causes likely more river pollution with untreated urban waste compared to the pre-war period. In order to check this assumption, we synthesize the current knowledge with a focus on the Dnipro Basin, containing 80% of the national water resources. Our synthesis reveals three main arguments. First, water-related infrastructures that were damaged as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war are the important causes of pollutant release to water systems. These infrastructure damages are estimated, on average, for rural (30% of irrigation systems) and urban (35–40% of treatment plants and sewage connections) areas or both (40–90% of bridges and dams). Second, water pollution sources tend to change towards direct inputs of untreated urban waste with multiple pollutants compared to the pre-war period. Third, our illustrative example for nutrients, a painkiller, an antibacterial agent, and microplastics from urban waste showed an increase of 2–34% in their loadings into the Dnipro River due to damaged sewage pipes and wastewater treatment plants in 2022. In addition, 20–62% of those pollutants are from untreated urban waste (point sources). We propose a framework for future steps including visualizing (V) and integrating (I) the impacts into tools for quantification as well as translating (T) those quantified insights into actionable strategies and assessing (A) their feasibilities for pollution reduction.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/1943815X.2023.2281920Russian-Ukrainian warwater pollutionDnipro basinwater infrastructuresurban pollutionrural pollution
spellingShingle Vita Strokal
Anna Kurovska
Maryna Strokal
More river pollution from untreated urban waste due to the Russian-Ukrainian war: a perspective view
Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences
Russian-Ukrainian war
water pollution
Dnipro basin
water infrastructures
urban pollution
rural pollution
title More river pollution from untreated urban waste due to the Russian-Ukrainian war: a perspective view
title_full More river pollution from untreated urban waste due to the Russian-Ukrainian war: a perspective view
title_fullStr More river pollution from untreated urban waste due to the Russian-Ukrainian war: a perspective view
title_full_unstemmed More river pollution from untreated urban waste due to the Russian-Ukrainian war: a perspective view
title_short More river pollution from untreated urban waste due to the Russian-Ukrainian war: a perspective view
title_sort more river pollution from untreated urban waste due to the russian ukrainian war a perspective view
topic Russian-Ukrainian war
water pollution
Dnipro basin
water infrastructures
urban pollution
rural pollution
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/1943815X.2023.2281920
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