European bathing water quality report: Public bathing water in Finland is clean
It is safe to bathe in the waters of public beaches in Finland according to the European Environment Agency's (EEA) recently published bathing water report. The majority of bathing waters in Finland, 95 per cent, were classified as being of excellent or good quality, which corresponds to the previous monitoring period.
The report contains bathing water quality data from all public beaches. In the summer of 2021, Finland had a total of 302 public beaches, 224 of which were inland and 78 coastal beaches.
Six, or two per cent, of the beaches were categorised in the lowest acceptable sufficient water quality class. In addition, the water quality of four beaches (1.3%) was described as poor.
Over 97% of inland bathing waters were classified as excellent or good quality. Over 88 per cent of all coastal bathing waters were classified as excellent or good. Three of the four bathing waters classified as poor were on an inland beach, and one was on a coastal beach.
Only five beaches in Finland were left without a quality classification, as water quality had not been monitored for long enough yet. Measures to improve the quality of bathing water had been taken on one of these beaches, and the rest were new ones.
The report on European bathing water quality classifies the quality of bathing water on the beaches where the water’s concentrations of bacteria indicating intestinal contamination have been monitored regularly over four bathing seasons. The monitoring of bacteria concentrations enables, for example, assessing the impact of wastewater on the bathing water.
“The data includes bathing waters classified as poor. In some beaches, bathing water has been classified as poor for several consecutive years. I hope that the cause of contamination in these beaches can be found and that it is possible to take measures to improve the water quality. If bathing water is classified as poor during five consecutive bathing seasons, and the quality of the water cannot be restored, the municipal health protection authority will prohibit bathing in the water, and the bathing water in question can no longer be considered suitable for bathing,” says Outi Zacheus, Senior Planning Officer at THL.
Basic data on individual beaches and bathing water classifications based on monitoring are available on EEA's online service. According to the information gathered in the service, Austria and Malta had the most beaches classified as excellent.
During the bathing season in the summer, information on the quality of bathing waters will be provided at the beaches and on the municipalities’ websites, for example. This information will not be updated in EEA's online service during the bathing season.
Occurrence of blue-green algae not included in bathing water quality classification
Even though municipal health protection authorities monitor the occurrence of blue-green algae in bathing water in Finland, the abundance or frequency of blue-green algae occurrences is not taken into account when defining bathing water quality according to the bathing water directive. Information on the blue-green algae situation is posted at the beaches and on municipalities’ websites.
“Since the occurrence of blue-green algae in bathing water may vary even within one day, up-to-date information is not always available. A bather should assess the condition of the bathing water visually before entering the water, as bathing in water with blue-green algae should be avoided. Using photos of blue-green algae occurrences in communications could be one way of increasing the awareness of bathers,” Zacheus ponders.
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare reports the results of municipal health protection authorities’ bathing water monitoring to the European Commission annually. The recently published report is based on the monitoring in the bathing seasons of 2018–2021. The report consolidates country-specific bathing water quality summaries and the monitoring results of approximately 22,000 European beaches.
Further information:
European bathing water quality report 2021
European Environment Agency
Finnish bathing water quality report 2021
European Environment Agency
Bathing water
THL
Outi Zacheus
Senior Planning Officer
THL
tel. +358 (0)29 524 6374
[email protected]
