Microbiological analysis of selected coastal bathing waters in the U.K., Greece, Italy and Spain

The study was undertaken to assess the performance of a selected range of holiday destinations against the microbiological determinants of the European Union (EU) bathing water Directive [Council directive of 8 December 1975 concerning the quality of bathing waters. Official Journal L,31, 1–7. 76/160/EEC.]. The destinations were situated in three Mediterranean countries —Greece, Spain and Italy— and in the U.K. itself. The Mediterranean destinations were chosen on the basis of their popularity with British visitors, the U.K. beaches on a fairly random basis. All the beaches in all countries were EU designated bathing waters, several holding the prestigious European Blue Flag award. Summary findings indicate that the five beaches sampled in Spain were all of very good microbiological quality for the ten days of sampling. Four of the beaches examined in Crete were of similar good quality. The fifth, at Malia, was of much poorer quality. The five Italian beaches all failed at least one of the Mandatory standards for either total or thermotolerant (faecal) coliforms. All these failures occurred on the same two days, coincident with heavy rainfall. The six U.K. beaches surveyed all passed Mandatory standards for total coliforms but one beach did not comply with the Mandatory standard for thermotolerant coliforms. The fact that several of the Mediterranean and U.K. beaches examined in the study were European Blue Flag beaches and that, on occasion, their water quality failed to meet the criteria for that award, suggests that such award schemes should clearly indicate that the guarantee of bather safety is far from absolute.