Austria has the cleanest bathing water, the Netherlands scores poorly
In Austria, Greece and Croatia it is a good place for swimmers, the bathing water quality is very high almost everywhere. In the Netherlands this is only the case in three quarters of the monitored outdoor swimming locations, the lowest of all Western European countries. Of those locations, 4.6 percent is labeled ‘poor’, a lot higher than the European average of 1.5 percent. This is shown by research by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on the water quality and presence of bacteria in 22,000 European bathing waters in 2021.
The relatively low quality in the Netherlands is partly due to the fact that the Netherlands has many inland swimming locations, such as lakes and rivers. The water is often cleaner on the coast. Lakes, rivers and quarries are often polluted by nearby buildings and industry.
Poland scores worst, where less than half of the swimming spots are of ‘very good’ quality. This is partly because more than one third of the waters there have not been sufficiently monitored for an assessment.
Warning or negative advice for more than 1 in 10 swimming spots
Several water boards in the Netherlands warn against blue-green algae. This bacterium thrives in rising temperatures and can lead to headaches and stomach and intestinal complaints in swimmers.
During the swimming season, which lasts from 1 May to 1 October, about 900 Dutch swimming locations are regularly checked. Rijkswaterstaat, the water boards and the provinces publish the warnings and advice on the website swimmingwater.nl. A warning or negative swimming advice currently applies to more than 100 locations.
Blue-green algae is not the only obstacle for swimmers. The Vechtstromen water board warns against Weill’s disease, which is spread by the urine of rats. A common symptom of the disease is a sudden high fever.