EU-supported Environmental Laboratory opens in Vyshhorod on the occasion of the World Water Day

On 23 March, on the occasion of the World Water Day 2021, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine presented the newly renovated water quality laboratory in Vyshhorod. The upgrade and renovation of the laboratory was supported by the EU in the framework of the European Union Water Initiative Plus for Eastern Partnership Countries (EUWI+), and developed by the State Agency of Water Resources.

“Water quality is essential for the life and health of people, sustainable agriculture and economic growth,” said Chloe Allio, Head of the Economic cooperation, energy, infrastructure and environment section at the EU Delegation to Ukraine. “Knowing exactly what is in the water is the first step to making it cleaner and safer...”

The laboratory now conducts state-of-the-art water analysis which enables detection of heavy metals, industrial chemicals and pesticides in lower concentrations and with much higher precision. It will help reduce the risk for people, ecosystems, and water-using economic sectors that can suffer from toxic effects caused by anthropogenic contamination and mismanagement of water bodies.

“The results of screening made for the Dnipro, Dniester and Siverskyi Donets basins have again proved the importance and need for the improvement of the standards of surface water bodies monitoring,” said Roman Abramovsky, Minister of Environmental Protection and Nature Resources of Ukraine. “The laboratory in Vyshhorod will allow us to analyse the typical substances of the Dnipro, Desna and Prypiat rivers, realise the impact of the neighbouring countries on shared water bodies, and identify the pollutants. This will provide new opportunities to protect both human health and the environment.”

The project team has also provided Ukraine with further training and equipment support. Now the laboratory is on the way to be internationally accredited. The accreditation will attest high competence and compliance with the latest international quality standards for laboratories. It will also confirm that results provided by the Vyshhorod laboratory are officially valid, comparable, consistent, and trustworthy, so that policy decisions can be taken based on solid scientific evidence.

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Press release

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