Planning to swim in the Reitdiep near Garnwerd? Then the risk of stomach and intestinal complaints is great. The strong warnings are part of the negative swimming advice that applies there. This is why you can still swim safely here.
Anyone looking for swimming spots where you can safely cool off this summer will soon come across the website swimmingwater.nl . At the Reitdiep in Garnwerd there is a thick red line: a negative swimming advice. Are you jumping into this water? Then you have a chance of diarrhea and stomach complaints, according to the website.
But is the water as bad as the advice suggests?
If you click on the website, you will come across the results of the two-weekly measurement of the faecal bacteria. As the name suggests, this is caused by the excrement of humans and animals. And it is precisely those bacteria that now fall well within the permitted values, says Géanne Kremer, spokesperson for the Noorderzijlvest water board, which is responsible for the water measurements. So you can take a dip here.
“That was determined by the province on the basis of the average bathing water quality over the past four years,” says Jan van der Meide, spokesman for the province of Groningen. In this situation, the European Bathing Water Directive states that the province must impose a kind of permanent negative bathing advice. In short: based on the measurements of the past four years, the province must issue a negative swimming advice from the European Union.
Permanently negative swimming advice
The main question is why the water quality has not been good in recent years. That is not clear here and that uncertainty also affects the quality of the bathing water, says Van der Heide.
Garnwerd is not the only place with such permanent negative swimming advice. This also applies to the beach at Termunten, the beach in Delfzijl, the beach at holiday park Emslandermeer in Vlagtwedde and at camping Wedderbergen in Wedde. Even in these places, the water can currently meet the quality standards.
Still swimming
Only when the average turns out positive do the signals officially turn green. Johan Broesder (39) doesn’t care. He himself does not like swimming, but he does like to organize swimming trips. Including the Groningen Swim Challenge from Lauwersoog to Groningen, which will be held on August 24 and will largely pass through the Reitdiep. “I didn’t see anything crazy about the water. A few weeks ago it briefly reeked of fish. But that was short-lived, when I look now it seems clear.”
There is contact with the water board for the tours, all editions have continued. Broesder also does not expect any problems in the coming period. The teenagers did not let themselves be stopped last weekend and swam at Garnwerd, the sloshing water and screaming of the dozens of bombs and somersaults as a result.