Safe summer swimming: Europeans can confidently bathe in the majority of EU's waters, report says

Published connected 20/06/2025 - 16:13 GMT+2•Updated 16:14

From nan Atlantic to nan Mediterranean, Europeans tin aquatics safely successful astir of Europe's waters, according to nan latest EU bathing h2o appraisal released connected Friday.

Over 85 per cent of nan sites tested met nan EU's strictest 'excellent' bathing h2o value standards according to information past year, while 96 per cent of each officially recognised bathing waters successful nan EU met nan minimum value standards.

The appraisal and interactive map, produced by nan European Environment Agency (EEA) successful business pinch nan European Commission, highlights wherever swimmers tin find well-managed bathing sites successful Europe.

The appraisal tests nan suitability of waters for bathing, focusing connected monitoring germs that tin origin perchance superior illness.

In total, complete 22,000 bathing h2o sites were assessed successful each 27 EU Member States, arsenic good arsenic successful Albania and Switzerland. In 5 countries - Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Austria, and Croatia - 95 per cent aliases much of nan bathing waters were marked arsenic being fantabulous value bathing waters.

Only 1.5 per cent of EU bathing waters were recovered to beryllium of mediocre quality. The value of coastal bathing waters is mostly amended than that of rivers and lakes.

In 2024, astir 89 per cent of EU coastal bathing waters were classified arsenic excellent, compared to 78 per cent of inland bathing waters.

From nan Atlantic to nan Mediterranean, astir of Europe's bathing waters are of fantabulous bathing value erstwhile assessed against nan parameters (Escherichia coli [E. coli] and enterococci) required by nan Water and Waste Water Directive (BWD).

Bathing h2o value successful Europe has improved importantly complete nan past decades. This is owed to a drastic simplification of integrated pollutants and pathogens antecedently released successful untreated aliases partially treated municipal wastewater. These improvements person occurred arsenic a consequence of nan mixed effects:

- The systematic monitoring and guidance introduced nether nan Water and Waste Water Directive.

- The awesome investments successful municipality discarded h2o curen plants; - nan ample investments successful municipality discarded h2o curen plants.

- Improvements successful wastewater networks.

Thanks to these ongoing efforts, swimming is now imaginable successful municipality and erstwhile very polluted waters.

BWD focuses connected monitoring E. coli and enterococci, important indicators of faecal contamination, which poses a consequence to quality wellness owed to nan imaginable beingness of pathogens. In addition, toxic cyanobacterial blooms, though not taxable to nan quantitative monitoring prescribed by nan BWD, often lead to anti-bathing advisories.

However, chemicals are besides coming successful nan water. Water value is monitored and assessed nether nan Water Framework Directive (WFD) (EU, 2000).

The study recovered location is still important contamination of aboveground and groundwater, which are not captured by bathing h2o monitoring, moreover erstwhile they transcend ineligible limits group to forestall harm to nan environment.