We usually expect to have running water when we open a water tap in a house. Unfortunately, it is not always the case. In April 2016, the power line supplying electricity to Olenivka pumping station was damaged in the shelling. As a result, water supply for the residents of the villages of Stepove, Berezove, Taramchuk, Solodke and Olenivka in Donetsk region was terminated for one and a half year.

“Humanitarian organizations covered the needs in potable water for the local residents. For other household needs, they used technical water from the wells. However, its quality could not withstand any criticism. It was a tough time”, recalls Gennady Shapovalov, Head of the Stepove Village Council.

The solution to the problem was to build a new power line that unlike the old one doesn’t cross the contact line. Therefore, the work of Olenivka pumping station would be more stable. We supported this important infrastructure initiative. After a few months of hard work, a new 2.5 kilometers long power line is now ready.

ICRC/Yevgen Nosenko

Danielle Hannon-Burt who heads the ICRC Mariupol sub-delegation with the Head of the Donetsk Regional Administration visited the pumping station, which is back to life again. She noted, “We are proud to make this humanitarian project happen. Now it provides running potable water to over 8,000 people living on both sides of the contact line. Moreover, Olenivka pumping station is a true reminder of the need to respect the inviolability of essential infrastructure as lives of thousands of civilians depend on this.”