Malta’s bathing water is second best in European rankings

The European Environment Agency (EEA) published its annual report on the quality of bathing water for the 2011 season, once again confirming bathing water quality for Malta reached an excellent quality of 97.7%.

Malta was classified in the second place just after Cyprus with 99.1%. The result once again shows an improvement on 2010's results where Malta was classified third with 95.4% of its bathing sites reaching an excellent quality.

A total of 87 coastal bathing waters were monitored in Malta during the 2011 bathing season. Malta accounts for about 0.4 % of the reported bathing waters of the European Union.

One bathing water (1.1 %) was of good quality and one bathing water (1.1 %) was of sufficient quality compared to three (3.4 %) and one (1.1 %) in 2010 respectively. No bathing waters (0.0 %) had poor quality and no bathing waters (0.0 %) had to be closed during the season, the same as in 2010.

Significant management measures were also reported by the Maltese authorities. All official bathing areas are clearly identified by appropriate signs indicating the monitoring locations. Information on sampling results and classification are given weekly on the department of environmental health's website. Sampling results are posted at some sites and causes of pollution are routinely inspected.

In the case of bathers health risk, information is posted at affected sites and a press release issued through the Department of Information.

92.1 % of bathing waters in the European Union now meet the minimum water quality standards set by the Bathing Water Directive.

The results are from the latest annual Bathing Water Report of European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission, which describes water quality in more than 22,000 bathing sites at beaches, rivers and lakes across Europe last year.

Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said: "I am pleased to note that the quality of Europe's bathing waters generally remains high, and has improved since last year.

"A clear majority of Europeans are concerned about water quality issues, and want more information on this. We must therefore continue our work to ensure our waters are appropriate for all legitimate uses - from bathing to drinking - and that the overall aquatic ecosystem is in good health."

Bathing water in Europe needs to comply with standards set in the 2006 Bathing Water Directive, which must be implemented by December 2014. The EU publishes an annual summary report on the quality of bathing water, based on reports that the Member States should submit before the end of the previous year. In this year's report, all 27 Member States as well as Croatia, Montenegro and Switzerland monitored and reported bathing water quality, most of them according to the new provisions.

European citizens can find out about the water quality at their favourite swimming spot by checking the Water Information System for Europe (WISE). The site allows users to download data and check interactive maps. People can also report the state of their local water using the Eye on Earth website.