Latest Water Technologies of Abengoa Water - GineersNow GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 022, Abe | Page 29

Key findings
• All reported bathing water sites in Austria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Romania, and
Slovenia achieved at least “sufficient” quality
in 2016.
• In five countries, 95% or more bathing
waters were assessed as being of ‘excellent’
quality: Luxembourg (all 11 reported bathing
sites), Cyprus (99%of all sites), Malta (99% of
all sites), Greece (97% of all sites), and
Austria (95% of all sites).
• In 2016, 1.5% (1.4% for EU countries) of
bathing water sites were rated as having
“poor” water quality. Between the 2015 and
2016 bathing seasons, the absolute number
of bathing waters classified as “poor”
dropped from 383 to 318 (from 349 to 302 for
EU countries).
• The highest number of bathing sites with
“poor” water quality were found in Italy (100
bathing water sites or 1.8%), France (82 sites
or 2.4%) and Spain (39 sites or 1.8%)
Background
The major sources of pollution are sewage and
water draining from farms and farmland. Such
pollution increases during heavy rains and
floods due to sewage overflow and polluted
drainage water being washed into rivers and
seas. Faecal contamination of water continues
to pose a risk to human health, especially if it
is found at bathing water sites. Swimming at
contaminated beaches or lakes can result in
illness. All EU Member States, plus Albania
and Switzerland, monitor their bathing sites
according to the provisions of the EU”s revised
Bathing Water Directive. The legislation
specifies if the bathing water quality can be
classified as ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘sufficient’ or
‘poor’, depending on the levels faecal bacteria
detected. Where water is classified as ‘poor’,
Member States should take certain measures,
like banning bathing or posting a notice
advising against it, providing information to the
public, and suitable corrective measures.
Water Leaders • June 2017
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