European bathing water quality - How clean is your bathing site?

Report on European bathing water quality

The summer holiday season has already started!

Some have booked their holidays, while some others are still checking out where to spent their summer holidays.

This time of the year it is all about sea, sand, and sun!

When you choose your summer destination have you ever thought of taking into account the bathing water quality? If not, you definitely should.

The European Environmental Agency (EEA) publishes every year a Report on the European bathing water quality.

And this year the news are good!

Most bathing sites in the EU have excellent water quality. But 2% were rated as having ‘poor’ water quality. One potential source of pollution are faecal bacteria. Faecal contamination is a cause of concern for public health. If one swims in such contaminated waters it can result in illness.

The good news is, that overall the quality of EU bathing water has improved over time. In 1991, only 56 % of bathing water sites reached the highest standards and this year the percentage increased to 84, while 96% of the monitored bathing sites met the minimum requirements.

Bathing water quality according to each country

Across the EU, Switzerland and Albania water was sampled and analyzed from more than 21 000 coastal and inland bathing sites.

In eight countries more than 90 % of bathing sites had excellent water quality: Luxembourg, Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Germany, and Austria. But one should choose wisely where to go for a swim. For example, the highest numbers of bathing sites with poor water quality were found in Italy, followed by France and Spain.

How can I visually check out the water quality at beaches?

An interactive map shows the state of bathing water by each country made available by the EEA.

The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet), combined in a map the state of bathing water with human activities. The latter can have an affect the marine environment, and hence the quality of our bathing sites. Here you can find out how clean the water according to the beach where you’ll be swimming in is.

So if you are still checking out where to spend your summer holidays take the results of this EEA report under consideration. If you are already enjoying the sea, sand and sun have a look on the map and choose a beach with excellent water quality.

In case you choose the Mediterranean Sea, guess which country shows on the EMODnet map only blue flags symbolizing “excellent state of bathing waters”? Greece !