HIGH BATHING WATER QUALITY DESPITE VARIED RESULTS IN 2010

In 2010, 92.1% of Europe’s coastal bathing waters and 90.2% of inland bathing waters met the minimum quality standards. Only 1.2% of coastal bathing water and 2.8% of inland sites were non-compliant. The remainder are unclassified due to insufficient data.

In general, coastal bathing water quality deteriorated between 2009 and 2010 – the number of bathing water bodies meeting the mandatory values fell by 3.5%, while those meeting guide values fell by 9.5%.

Inland water quality has also dropped. The number of rivers and lakes achieving the guide values fell by 10.2%, although compliance with the mandatory values was almost stationary. Rivers were particularly problematic, with only 25% of river bathing waters achieving guide values.

Background

Bathing water in Europe needs to comply with standards set in the Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC) adopted in 2006, which updates and simplifies previous legislation. The directive was to be transposed into the national law by March 2008, although Member States have until December 2014 to implement it. During the 2010 bathing season 20 Member States monitored and reported bathing water quality according to the new provisions.

European citizens can find out about the water quality at their favourite swimming spot by checking the Water Information System for Europe (WISE). The site allows users to download data and check interactive maps, from the European level down to the individual monitoring station level. People can also report the state of their local water using the Eye on Earth website.