European Bathing Waters Meet Stricter Quality Standards, Report Reveals
A significant portion of Europe’s bathing waters have met the most stringent quality standards of the European Union, according to a report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on Friday, assessing the bathing season of 2024. More than 85% of monitored sites were classified as “excellent” while 96% met the minimum quality standards.
The report evaluated over 22,000 bathing waters in the 27 EU member states, as well as in Albania and Switzerland. Notably, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Greece, Austria and Croatia, where 95% or more of the bathing waters were of excellent quality, stood out. Only 1.5% of the bathing waters in the EU exhibited poor quality.
The quality of coastal bathing waters generally outperformed that of rivers and lakes, with around 89% of coastal bathing waters classified as excellent, compared to 78% of inland bathing waters. The improvement in water quality over the past decades is largely attributed to EU regulations and investments in wastewater treatment plants, the EEA stated.