An update on swimming areas in France
Each year, the European Environment Agency publishes its report on the quality of bathing waters in France.
Each year, the European Environment Agency publishes its report on the quality of bathing waters in France. This year, out of 3,222 recorded beaches, only 74 were reported as having insufficient water quality, including 15 in Brittany. The poor quality of bathing waters in Brittany is due to the proliferation of green algae, which results from high concentrations of nitrate from agricultural sources.
The good-quality bathing areas in France are mostly located in the south, such as the beaches at Lacanau (33) or Nice (06). There is even a 2% improvement in the quality of these beaches compared to last year.
To monitor bathing water quality, laboratories analyse levels of certain types of bacteria that could indicate pollution primarily from livestock waste or sewage. To find out about water quality, each bathing area displays the results from the regional health agencies (ARS). Several water quality levels emerge:
- “good quality” water,
- “average quality” water,
- water “that may be temporarily polluted”,
- “poor quality” water.
Can the rather average quality of French waters have an impact on the health of swimmers?
Normally no, average-quality water presents no risk, but the presence of bacteria such as Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci can cause health problems such as wound infections, gastroenteritis, or respiratory or eye infections. Furthermore, in polluted waters, it is possible to find more dangerous bacteria such as staphylococci, and in this case the beach will be closed.
Generally, beaches are organised and equipped within the limits of supervised areas to provide prevention and ensure swimmer safety.
Three colours of flag are used to inform swimmers.
- the red flag banning swimming,
- the yellow/orange flag indicating that swimming is dangerous but it is supervised,
- the green flag indicating that swimming is supervised and there is no danger to report.
If you wish to plan your holiday location based on water quality, you can check the real-time pollution level of the water on the website of the ministry responsible for health, or also using the WISE application (Water Information System for Europe).
