Bathing water quality

Do Malta’s bathing waters meet international standards?

A high level of bathing water quality is essential for public health, the environment, as well as to support recreational and tourism-related activities. In this regard Malta is obliged to comply with standards under the EU Bathing Water Directive and the Barcelona Convention. Under the new EU Bathing Water Directive, bathing waters are classified on the basis of 2 microbiological parameters, and the results are expressed in terms of excellent, good, sufficient or poor quality, closed, new, insufficiently sampled or changes (bathing water where changes occur that affect the classification of bathing water).

The results for 2011, based on four years’ data (2008-2011), indicate that 97.7 per cent of coastal bathing waters qualified as of excellent quality, while 1.1 per cent were of good quality, and 1.1 per cent was of sufficient quality. In 2011 an improvement was registered with regards to bathing sites of excellent quality, with 85 bathing sites classified as excellent, compared to 83 in 2010. In 2011, similar to the previous year, one bathing site was classified as good, while one bathing site was classified as sufficient when compared to two in 2010. Bathing water under the Barcelona Convention is classified as excellent, good, sufficient or poor, and in 2011, all 87 bathing sites classified as excellent under this Convention.

For more information see The Environment Report Indicators 2010-2011 at http://www.mepa.org.mt/teri2010-2011.