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Europe's bathing water improved after 40 years of investments: EU report

Xinhua, May 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

Bathing water quality in the European Union (EU) has improved continuously over time, leading to 96 percent of monitored bathing sites meeting the minimum standards for water quality in 2015, said a report on Wednesday.

The EU's efforts to ensure clean and healthy bathing water began 40 years ago when the first Bathing Water Directive was issued.

This proves the value of the legislation and the years of investment in waste water infrastructure and other pollution reduction measures, according to the annual bathing water report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

The report compiled analyses of water sampled at more than 21,000 coastal and inland bathing sites across the EU, Switzerland and Albania indicating whether or not it has been contaminated by faecal pollution from sewage or livestock.

While 96 percent of bathing sites met the minimum requirements, more than 84 percent met the more stringent "excellent" level, said the report.

Several large tourist areas and cities like Blackpool, Copenhagen and Munich are also starting to benefit from investments in improved sewage systems, which are leading to cleaner bathing sites at harbor areas, urban river locations and nearby beaches.

In specific, more than 90 percent of bathing sites in eight EU member states had excellent water quality in 2015.

Across Europe, only 385 bathing sites were assessed as having poor bathing water quality in 2015. The highest numbers of bathing sites with poor water quality were found in Italy, France and Spain.

"That is the result of 40 years investing in water and waste water infrastructure. It is a sign of EU legislation working well. And it is a perfect testimony to the fact that a highly evolved economic area such as ours can produce equally high environmental standards," said Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. Endit