Heavy rain has washed manure and cow poo into lakes and onto beaches. In several places, bathing areas are forced to be flagged as unserviceable.
On the west coast alone, between Gothenburg and Halmstad, swimming is advised against at around 25 bathing spots.
The municipalities in the country report water samples to the Sea and Water Authority (Hav), which in turn updates the situation for the various municipal bathing areas on its website.
The authority has noticed how the water quality has deteriorated around the country.
There are more bathing spots than usual, says Mikael Krysell who is unit manager for environmental monitoring at Hav.
In addition to several bathing spots along the West Coast, for example, bathing spots in Jönköping and Uppsala counties also have problems with water quality.
The polluted water may be due to recent large amounts of rain, which have brought intestinal bacteria from fertilized fields, or from coastal paddocks with cows or sheep, into the sea.
There may also be flocks of Canada geese that have settled near the shore at night. It’s simply faeces from animals near the water, says Mikael Krysell.
“Feels important”
Kungsbacka is one of the municipalities that currently has swimming areas where a dip is not recommended.
The municipality tries to be as quick as possible in getting out information about the water quality, according to Tina Carlson who is operations manager at the construction and environmental administration at Kungsbacka municipality.
It feels important. It’s to protect people from inconvenience, that they don’t get sick, she says.
The municipality follows the EU directive on measuring water quality several times during the year. If the test shows that the water is unserviceable, it is tested again.
If it’s good, we remove the advice immediately, says Tina Carlson.
Stomach upset and diarrhea
If the contaminated water is swallowed, the bather may experience stomach upset, diarrhea and stomach ache. Harmless, but unpleasant and the discomfort can last for a few days, according to Mikael Krysell at Hav.
Therefore, the person who is addicted to the bath must take the warnings from the municipality seriously.
The first piece of advice is always to look for another swimming spot, it’s the safest, he says.
Facts: Tests of swimming areas
In Sweden, the bathing areas that have more than 200 bathers per day during the bathing season must be registered as EU baths and the water there must be checked regularly according to certain rules.
Samples are taken at least 3–4 times per bathing season. What you look for are elevated levels of the bacteria E. coli and intestinal enterococci.
If the bathing water quality is judged to be poor, there must be a sign advising against bathing.
Source: The Norwegian Sea and Water Authority.