The purpose of the study was to assess the state of ecological development of rural rural areas of the amalgamated territorial communities of Zhytomyr district based on drinking water quality indicators of non-centralised water supply sources to ensure their sustainable development. It was found that the average pH value was within the current standard, which indicates an excellent environmental condition for this indicator. The average content of nitrates in drinking water, which in all the studied communities exceeded the standard by 1.4 to 3.5 times, was assessed at only one point. The average concentration of total iron exceeded the current standard by 1.9 times only in the rural settlements of the Liubar community. Satisfactory water quality, in terms of total iron content, was recorded in 50 per cent of the surveyed communities. In 70 per cent of the studied communities, the average value of total hardness was recorded at a level higher than 7.0 mmol/dm3, which indicates, according to European legislation, a poor condition of drinking water. Thus, having assessed the ecological state of rural areas in terms of drinking water quality, it was found that most of the studied communities have a satisfactory state of the territories, as the total number of points varied between 2.25-3.3 points. And the greatest contribution to the decline in the level of environmental development of rural settlements is made by the indicators of nitrate content in drinking water and its hardness.
1. Drinking water. Requirements and methods of quality control, DSTU 17525: 2014 (2014).
2. Herasymchuk, L., Romanchuk, L. & Valerko, R. (2022). Water quality from the sources of non-centralized water supply within the rural settlements of Zhytomyr region. Ekologia (Bratislava) – Journal of the Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Science, 41(2), 126-134. doi: https://doi.org/10.2478/eko-2022-0013.
3. Huschuk, I., Brezetska, O., Huschuk, V., & Drab, R. (2018). Мonitoring and ecological-and-hygienic evaluation of the quality of drinking water from the sources of decentralized water supply in Rivne region for 2004-2015. Environment & Нealth, 1, 41-46. doi: https://doi.org/10.32402/dovkil2018.01.041
4. Hygienic requirements for drinking water intended for human consumption DSanPiN 2.2.4-171-10 (2010). Retrieved from https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/z0452-10
5. Kotsiuba, І., Lukianova, V., Anpilova, Y., Yelnikova, T., Herasymchuk, O., & Spasichenko, O. (2022). The Features of Eutrophication Processes in the Water of the Uzh River. Ecological Engineering & Environmental Technology, 23(2), 9–15. doi: https://doi.org/10.12912/27197050/145613
6. Lototska, O., & Prokopov, O. (2018). Assessment of the risk of the consumption of drinking water with the increased content of nitrates for the health of the people of the Ternopil Region. Environment & Health, 4, 20-24. doi: https://doi.org/10.32402/dovkil2018.04.020
7. Moldovan, A., Hoaghia, M., Kovacs, E., Mirea, I., Kenesz, M., Arghir, R., Petculescu, A., Levei, E., & Moldovan, O. (2020). Quality and Health Risk Assessment Associated with Water Consumption—A Case Study on Karstic Springs. Water, 12, 3510. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/w12123510
8. Pustovit, I. (2013). Methods of determining the ecological and social assessment of rural settlements of Ukraine. Scientific reports of NULES, 1(37). Retrieved from http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/e-journals/Nd/2013_1/13pim.pdf
9. Stehney, M. (2015). Ecological priorities of rural development. Economy and state, 1, 17-21.
10. Sustainable Development Strategy until 2030 (2023). Retrieved from: https://www1.undp.org/content/dam/ukraine/docs/SDGreports/UNDP_Strategy_v06-optimized.pdf
11 Tymoshenko, M. (2018). Methodical bases of estimation of sustainable development of rural territories: algorithm, structural scheme and research tools. Global and national economic problems, 21, 214-220.
12. Wheeler, D., Nolan, B., Flory, A., DellaValle, C., & Ward, M. (2015). Modeling groundwater nitrate concentrations in private wells in Iowa. The Science of the total environment, 536, 481–488. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.080
13. Yu, G., Wang, J., & Liu, L. (2020). The analysis of groundwater nitrate pollution and health risk assessment in rural areas of Yantai, China. BMC Public Health, 20, 437. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08583-y
14. Zufiaurre, R., Martín-Ramos, P., & Cuchí José, A. (2020). Nitrates in Groundwater of Small Shallow Aquifers in the Western Side of Hoya de Huesca (NE Spain). Agronomy, 10(1), 22. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10010022