Post by Peter Ellis on Jun 17, 2011 11:34:16 GMT 1
Brussels - The cleanliness of European bathing waters declined slightly last year, but more than 90 per cent of water bodies still tested safe - with Cyprus and Croatia leading the pack, according to data released by the European Union on Thursday.
'I am glad to see that the quality of Europe's bathing waters remains high, although there is room for improvement,' EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said in a statement. 'Clean water is a priceless resource and we should not take it for granted.'
Cyprus was the top scorer in the report on 2010 bathing water quality, which is based on tests for bacteria such as E coli and is meant to be a guide for this year's swimmers. All of the island's coastal bathing waters were compliant with EU requirements.
Croatia, Malta and Greece were also among those posting the best results. At the other end, Poland had the worst performance, with 25 per cent of its coastal bathing waters and 16.7 per cent of its inland bathing water found to be non-compliant.
Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands also were low scorers, with 22.2 per cent, 13.6 per cent and 13 per cent of their inland bathing waters failing to meet requirements, respectively.
Their coastal bathing areas, however, fared much better, complying completely or almost completely with mandatory values.
More than 22,000 coastal and inland bathing sites were tested across the European Union, Croatia, Montenegro and Switzerland, 70 per cent of them coastal areas.
The report found that the number of water bodies meeting mandatory values declined by 3.5 per cent as compared to last year, while those meeting guide values fell by 9.5 per cent.
'The decrease reflects in part year-to-year variation, but also indicates that further work is necessary to ensure that the quality of bathing waters is constantly improved and maintained,' it said.
'I am glad to see that the quality of Europe's bathing waters remains high, although there is room for improvement,' EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said in a statement. 'Clean water is a priceless resource and we should not take it for granted.'
Cyprus was the top scorer in the report on 2010 bathing water quality, which is based on tests for bacteria such as E coli and is meant to be a guide for this year's swimmers. All of the island's coastal bathing waters were compliant with EU requirements.
Croatia, Malta and Greece were also among those posting the best results. At the other end, Poland had the worst performance, with 25 per cent of its coastal bathing waters and 16.7 per cent of its inland bathing water found to be non-compliant.
Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands also were low scorers, with 22.2 per cent, 13.6 per cent and 13 per cent of their inland bathing waters failing to meet requirements, respectively.
Their coastal bathing areas, however, fared much better, complying completely or almost completely with mandatory values.
More than 22,000 coastal and inland bathing sites were tested across the European Union, Croatia, Montenegro and Switzerland, 70 per cent of them coastal areas.
The report found that the number of water bodies meeting mandatory values declined by 3.5 per cent as compared to last year, while those meeting guide values fell by 9.5 per cent.
'The decrease reflects in part year-to-year variation, but also indicates that further work is necessary to ensure that the quality of bathing waters is constantly improved and maintained,' it said.