Bathing water quality
An indication on the state of our environment (13)
Do Malta’s bathing waters meet international standards?
A high level of bathing water quality is crucial for public health and the environment, and in this regard Malta must comply with standards under the EU Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC) and the Barcelona Convention (Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean).
In the 2009 bathing season Malta began to assess and report on bathing water quality under the new EU Bathing Water Directive, in which bathing waters are classified on the basis of two quality parameters. The results are expressed in terms of excellent, good, sufficient and poor quality or temporarily closed.
In 2009, based on four years’ data (2006–2009), 93.1 per cent of coastal bathing waters qualified as of excellent quality, while 6.9 per cent were of good quality, maintaining the high standards recorded in previous years. The Barcelona Convention also changed classification parameters and bathing water is classified as very good, good, fair or poor. In 2009, 98 per cent of the 87 sites were classified as good or very good (95 per cent and three per cent respectively).
For more information see The Environment Report Indicators 2009 at www.mepa.org.mt/teri2009.
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John Azzopoardi
Jan 22nd, 13:39
Above is the bueatiful picture of Ramla Bay. Could some please manage this bay better. Currenly, people have been going in with jeeps and dogs in this beautiful bay and there is no control at all. On top of that, il Katina (gate) that use to disallow cars from entering in the area where the toilets are has been cut and anyone can now drive in and go by the toilets. Where are the authorities in all this.