Water bodies of Ukraine: water quality and recreation

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to generalize approaches to water quality assessment of water bodies of Ukraine from the point of view of their recreational use. The use of the water area and coast of water bodies for recreational purposes, including swimming, rest, relaxation, physical exercise and aesthetic pleasure, has significant benefits for the restoration of human health. Considerable attention is paid to the study of this issue and the implementation of practical measures in the world. Thus, in the European Union there is a directive 2006/7/EC on the management of the quality of bathing water (2006), in the USA the law on the assessment of the condition of beaches and the protection of coastal areas was adopted (2000). The World Health Organization (WHO) under the UN periodically issues recommendations on the quality of recreational water. One of the important infrastructural factors, on which the water quality of a water body used for recreational purposes depends to a certain extent, is compliance with the relevant requirements for the arrangement of beaches. Monitoring by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on the sea beaches of Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhya and Donetsk regions (49 beaches) during May–August 2021 showed compliance with water quality standards: according to microbiological indicators – by 85.5–99.1%; according to chemical indicators - by 84.9–100%. The FEO International Jury awards beaches with an environmental certificate provided they meet the criteria of the Blue Flag program. In Ukraine, which joined the program in 2010, 19 beaches were awarded the Blue Flag certificate in 2021. Unfortunately, due to the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, which began on February 24, 2022, a certain part of the territory in the east and southeast of Ukraine is currently temporarily occupied, the water infrastructure is being destroyed, which will have to be restored after the end of the war.