On Monday, the 7 ^th of July, in honor of Dnipro Day, Ukrainian National Environmental NGO “MAMA-86” in cooperation with “Pleso” Municipal Enterprise and scientists of the Institute of Colloid and Water Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU) conducted the next stage of action devoted to restoring of the Glybochytsa riverhead, one of more than 40 small rivers in Kyiv.

The event took place in the park of the NASU Institute of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, where the river originates.

“The 7^th of July — Day of the Dnipro River, still does not have the formal consolidation of Ukrainian public holiday calendar dates, but different organizations on different days, completely at their discretion celebrate the Day of the Dnipro River, the river that has formed the Ukrainian nation and remained its symbol ever since, — said Anna Tsvetkova, MAMA-86 Water & Sanitation Program Coordinator and the organizer of the event. — This year we decided to take concrete actions — let them be minor, but with an aim to restore the Dnipro River, starting in April with a clean-up action on the Glybochytsa River, which carries its waters, polluted from the origin, into the Dnipro”.

To rectify this problem, it was decided to not only release the pond (filled with water of the Glybochytsa) from debris, but also to apply the natural treatment technologies that will clean it of organic pollution and nutrients, including nitrogen and its compounds — one of the most widespread pollutants of small rivers in Ukraine. An environmental innovation designed by Dr. Petro Hvozdyak and Ph.D. candidate, biotechnology engineer Helena Sapura, Ukrainian scientists of the Institute of Colloid and Water Chemistry, became a good opportunity for this purpose. This year scientists received a patent for a utility model method of biological purification of water from nitrates. The basis of this method lies in the phytoremediation process (from Ancient Greek φυτο (phyto), meaning “plant”, and Latin remedium, meaning “restoring balance”). This method gives the degree of water purification from nitrates up to 98–99%!

“This is a low cost, easy-to-use, completely safe and even a useful method. It is interesting that there are no disadvantages!! This cleaning method was created by nature and now our task is to improve it. We propose to use higher water plants along with probiotics. These bacteria besides having excellent denitrificative properties are also effective as antagonists for many clinical strains of pathogenic bacteria, including enteric pathogen and microscopic fungi. This method was developed for the purpose of purification of drinking water, particularly in wells and water boreholes. Today, we partly used our system in this pond and will try to improve the quality of water in it”, Professor Hvozdyak said.

During the action the second pond below the river’s source was cleaned and a biosystem of water treatment was applied with the use of higher aquatic plant — myrtleflag (Acorus calamus), known also as “lepekha” or “tatar potion”, which has healing properties.

“By this action we want to attract the attention of both the public and the authorities to the problems of small rivers in the city. We also try to use low cost and effective natural systems to find a solution to the problems of water pollution of the city. The only thing that’s needed is the political will and efforts of the government to solve problems and establish effective cooperation of all responsible and interested parties. We have the technology; there are experts willing to share their developments. The final word rests with the authorities, whether they are ready to join, and with ordinary citizens, who are responsible for the cleanness of our city, and in particular in the park around the source of the Glybochitsa river where they like to rel”, Anna Tsvetkova said.