Winter Preparation of City Fountains: Getting Ready for Cold Weather
As October arrives, specialists from the municipal enterprise «Service Center» have commenced the process of preparing city fountains for the winter months, ensuring they will be operational again in spring.
The conservation of fountains is a complex process. To ensure the fountains survive the winter, the specialists need to blow out the water supply systems, dismantle the nozzles, and remove electrical and pumping equipment. After dismantling, the equipment is inspected, and repairs are made if necessary.
This year, the first fountain to be shut down was located in the Railway Station Square. Following that, the fountains «Waterfall» on Kosivska Street and «Mermaid» in Victory Park are scheduled for conservation.
Other fountains located in city parks will cease operation by mid-October, while those adorning the central part of Odessa will be conserved last. Thus, all city fountains are expected to be conserved by early November.
Additionally, in recent years, the «Service Center» has been practicing the complete sealing of some fountain basins. This method is applied to fountains located in the City Garden, Shevchenko Park («Small Vase»), and the Cosmonauts Square. Since the onset of the war, four fountains located in the UNESCO zone have been fully conserved and did not operate at all this year: the Memorial Fountain for the Victims of German-Romanian Fascists, the fountain «Petya and Gavrik», the fountain «Children and Tadpole», and the well-fountain «Spring».
The reverse process of deconserving the fountains will begin in the early spring. Typically, the first fountains in the city center are turned on by April 1, with the rest following in April.
Note
The municipal enterprise «Service Center» manages 27 city fountains. In 2024, 17 fountains serviced by the «Service Center» were deconserved. All of them are located outdoors, so the main factor determining their operational period is the weather and temperature conditions.
15 employees of the «Service Center» ensure the proper functioning of these fountains.
Throughout the spring, summer, and autumn, specialists from the «Service Center» perform routine maintenance of the fountains: cleaning the basins and collecting debris that ends up in the water, cleaning external filters and nozzles, flushing the sand filter, and maintaining the water level.
In addition to scheduled maintenance, Odessa's fountains also experience vandalism. In such cases, repairs are conducted on an unscheduled basis.
The fountain on Krymsky Boulevard has historically faced the highest number of vandalism incidents, with many teenagers disregarding numerous warnings and signs, climbing into the fountain, removing nozzles, and damaging the upper basin coverings.
All restoration work on the fountains and the elimination of various damages is the responsibility of the specialists at the «Service Center», who, despite the challenges posed by wartime, continue to perform their duties with dedication.
