European bathing waters – a health and wellbeing success story

Every year, millions of locals and tourists enjoy the seas, lakes and rivers across Europe. Swimming, exercising and relaxing by the water are great for both mental and physical health. This makes clean and safe bathing water a top priority. The Bathing Water Directive (BWD) is the main legislation that how water quality is monitored. This includes checking for harmful bacteria like E. coli and intestinal enterococci, which can cause stomach problems, ear and eye infections, and more serious infectious diseases. 

A journey from poor to excellent 

Since the first EU Bathing Water Directive was introduced nearly 50 years ago, the quality of Europe's bathing waters has greatly improved. In the latest update reflecting data gathered in 2023, 85% of EU bathing waters were rated as excellent and 96% were considered safe – meeting the minimum EU standards for water quality. Cyprus, Austria, Croatia and Greece had 95% or more of their bathing waters rated as excellent. In Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Malta, Luxembourg and Romania, all bathing waters met at least the minimum quality standards. 

Proportion of bathing waters with excellent quality in European countries in 2023

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This improvement is not just due to the Bathing Water Directive but also to better urban wastewater treatment and reduced pollution across Europe. 

To classify bathing waters, authorities regularly take water samples before and during the bathing season to check for bacteriological pollution. They then classify water quality as excellent, good, sufficient or poor for a given bathing season based on those tests, as well as the ones from the three preceding seasons.

Present and future challenges 

Despite the successes, 1.5% of EU bathing waters were still rated as poor. Inland waters generally have lower quality compared to coastal ones. Often, pollution spikes after heavy rainfall and overwhelms sewage systems, releasing untreated sewage into bathing waters. Climate change, with its extreme weather events like heavy rains, rising sea levels, higher temperatures and droughts, is likely to worsen the problems affecting bathing water. However, nature-based solutions can help: they can be a cost-efficient, environmentally-friendly alternative to dikes and dams.

Another growing issue is plastic pollution. Around 80% of the litter on European beaches is plastic. The degradation of plastic litter may lead to potential health risks from microplastics, though the full effects of these tiny particles are still unknown. European and global efforts are needed to limit and reduce plastic pollution.

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Towards even better bathing water quality

To tackle current and future challenges, and as part of the zero pollution action plan, the Bathing Water Directive is being reviewed for potential updates. For example, new monitoring parameters may need to be put in place to make bathing water quality assessments more accurate.

While the Bathing Water Directive focuses on protecting bathers from health risks, other laws protect the broader water environment. These include directives on Urban Wastewater Treatment, Drinking Water, Nitrates, Floods, Water Framework and Marine Strategy, and the Single-Use Plastics Directive. Together, they aim to reduce pollution, set water quality standards, and ensure safe drinking water and protection from floods.