Odessa's
water problems
Throughout history it has been difficult for Odessa
residents to find suitable drinking water. At
one time, water was shipped by boat from Kherson.
Odessa is the only city in the world that once
had water
ration cards, during the World War Two.
The cards where for 5 liters per person.
Before
the 19th century, Odessites relied on wells
for their water. When digging a well in Odessa
the waterbed usually lay at a large depth of
10 to 55 meters (33 to 180 feet). Very often
the water that was found was salty. Subterranean
water pans were often saturated with minerals
and also hardly fit for human consumption. Often
one well was dug for several households.
The
problem decreased considerably in the 19th century
with the use of large, 9-12 meters (29.5 - 39
feet) deep, cement cisterns. A cistern was an
underground reservoir, which was made of stone
or bricks and then layered on the inside with
cement. The cisterns were filled with filtered
rain water or spring water. Practically every
yard in outlying districts of Odessa had a cistern.
This is why some of the older houses have roofs
with one steep incline towards the courtyard
where the rain would flow to the cistern.
Rainwater
was collected by means of gutters. A special
filter diverted dirty rainwater. The clean rain
and thawed snow water then rain thorough ceramic
pipes to underwater ducts and finally through
coal and gravel filters.
Odessites
removed the water from the cisterns with cylindrical
metal pulleys. The water was used for live stock,
and household washing and bathing.
In
1873 water was diverted by piping from the Dniester
river.
Despite this diversion, Odessa's large population
still has water shortages. Water is turned off
every night around midnight. Certain areas of
the city will occasionally have no water for
long periods of time.
Old
Odessa wells can be found at:
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