Received 100% score of excellent quality in latest European Bathing Water Quality report 

Cyprus tops the list of European countries with the cleanest waters, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA) in its just-published annual European Bathing Water Quality report.

The report, which outlines which coastal and inland swimming spots are ideal for healthy swimming and others, which are not so great, is compiled based on data collected in 2020 from all 27 European Union (EU) member states, plus Albania, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

The report is timely with Europe opening to American travellers in the coming weeks, who are planning on soaking in the warm Mediterranean sun, lounging on golden sand and frolicking in ocean waves.

Cyprus, which is located in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey and west of Syria, received a 100 per cent score of “excellent quality” from the EEA, which assessed 112 different spots along the country’s shores.

Country rankings in the report

Other top contenders receiving top scores for excellent water quality include:
– Austria: 97.7 per cent
– Greece: 97.1 per cent
– Malta: 96.6 per cent
– Croatia: 95.1 per cent

The countries that earned the lowest marks for excellent water quality are:
-United Kingdom: 17.2 per cent
-Poland: 22.1 per cent
-Slovakia: 56.3 per cent
-Bulgaria: 60.4 per cent
-Estonia: 62.5 per cent

Just 1.3 per cent of bathing water sites in the EU is of “poor” quality. The EEA notes that sites receiving a poor quality designation are closed to swimming for the following season. The sites must have measures put in place to “reduce pollution and eliminate hazards to the health of bathers.” 

More than 22,000 saltwater and freshwater locations were assessed in the annual EEA report. The report is based on the EU Bathing Waters Directive, which requires EU member states to identify popular bathing places in fresh and coastal waters and monitor them for indicators of microbiological pollution and other substances from May to September.

The quality of water at coastal sites (saltwater) is generally better than that of inland sites (freshwater). In 2020, 85.4 per cent of the EU coastal bathing sites were classified as being of excellent quality compared to 77.5 per cent of inland sites.

Caveat given on UK’s low ranking

The European Bathing Water Quality report offers a caveat that may have influenced the low rate of “excellent” water quality that the UK earned. The report noted that, “In the United Kingdom more than 70 per cent of bathing waters were not classified, mainly due to lack of samples in the season 2020, related to the epidemic measures.”

Indeed, according to the 2019 data, the excellent bathing water quality in the UK was much higher: 66.1 per cent.