With the publication of the latest European Report on the quality of bathing waters, confirmation arrives of their high quality, with peaks of excellence as seen in the case of Croatia. The study, conducted by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in collaboration with the European Commission and published on June 9th, has indeed certified that over 95% of Croatian bathing waters met the strictest standards in 2022, earning the rating of “excellent”.
Monitoring of the waters was carried out in a total of 936 bathing areas, including 894 along the coast and 42 inlands. According to the study, 895 beaches (equivalent to 95.6% of the total) received an “excellent” evaluation, 24 (2.6%) were judged to have “good” water quality, while only 0.6% and 0.1% were respectively classified as “satisfactory” and “poor”.
This is the result of careful monitoring by European and local institutions aimed at ensuring the safety of bathers. Along most of the Croatian coast and some inland beaches, water quality has been regularly measured for approximately 20 years, and the public is informed of the results.
Tests are conducted about a dozen times during the summer season, from May to September, and involve determining the physical, chemical, and bacterial characteristics of the seawater (with bacterial parameters being the most significant indicators of marine pollution from fecal wastewater).
Generally positive situation across the continent
According to the annual European report, in 2022, the majority of bathing sites in Europe are in excellent health, deserving the classification of “excellent”. However, there is a qualitative difference between the water quality of coastal sites and that of rivers and lakes in inland areas, with the former generally being better than the latter. Specifically, in 88.9% of EU coastal bathing sites, the water was considered “excellent”, while for inland sites, excellence was achieved in only 79.3% of the cases examined.
Joining Croatia on the podium of the cleanest bathing waters are three other countries: Cyprus, Austria, and Greece, all with over 95% of their bathing areas certified as “excellent”.
