Sweden has 468 so-called EU baths, which have more than 200 bathers per day on average. Of them, 74 percent have excellent quality and nine out of ten have excellent, good or satisfactory bathing water quality.
But 18 Swedish EU baths have poor bathing water quality.
“For these baths, the municipality needs to investigate the sources of pollution and possible measures,” says Ema Glad, investigator at the Sea and Water Authority in a press release.
Bathing water quality is classified as poor if elevated bacteria levels have been noted on one or more occasions in the last four years.
In total, there are roughly 2,600 bathing places in Sweden registered by the municipalities on the Badplatsen website. A growing proportion of them become EU baths, which entails regular checks of the water and that the results of the checks are displayed on signs at the respective bathing area.