From the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, Europeans can swim safely in most of Europe’s waters, according to the latest EU bathing water assessment released on Friday.
Over 85 per cent of the sites tested met the EU’s strictest ‘excellent’ bathing water quality standards according to data last year, while 96 per cent of all officially recognised bathing waters in the EU met the minimum quality standards.
The assessment and interactive map, produced by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in partnership with the European Commission, highlights where swimmers can find well-managed bathing sites in Europe.
The assessment tests the suitability of waters for bathing, focusing on monitoring bacteria that can cause potentially serious illness.
In total, over 22,000 bathing water sites were assessed in all 27 EU Member States, as well as in Albania and Switzerland. In five countries – Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Austria, and Croatia – 95 per cent or more of the bathing waters were marked as being excellent quality bathing waters.
Only 1.5 per cent of EU bathing waters were found to be of poor quality. The quality of coastal bathing waters is generally better than that of rivers and lakes.
In 2024, around 89 per cent of EU coastal bathing waters were classified as excellent, compared to 78 per cent of inland bathing waters.
From the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, most of Europe’s bathing waters are of excellent bathing quality when assessed against the parameters (Escherichia coli [E. coli] and enterococci) required by the Water and Waste Water Directive (BWD).
Bathing water quality in Europe has improved significantly over the last decades. This is due to a drastic reduction of organic pollutants and pathogens previously released in untreated or partially treated municipal wastewater. These improvements have occurred as a result of the combined effects:
– The systematic monitoring and management introduced under the Water and Waste Water Directive.
– The major investments in urban waste water treatment plants; – the large investments in urban waste water treatment plants.
– Improvements in wastewater networks.
Thanks to these ongoing efforts, swimming is now possible in urban and once very polluted waters.
BWD focuses on monitoring E. coli and enterococci, important indicators of faecal contamination, which poses a risk to human health due to the potential presence of pathogens. In addition, toxic cyanobacterial blooms, although not subject to the quantitative monitoring prescribed by the BWD, often lead to anti-bathing advisories.
However, chemicals are also present in the water. Water quality is monitored and assessed under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) (EU, 2000).
The report found there is still significant pollution of surface and groundwater, which are not captured by bathing water monitoring, even when they exceed legal limits set to prevent harm to the environment.