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Swimming is consistently among the top public outdoor recreational activities in Europe and has numerous positive effects on human health and psychology. Bathing sites are often very attractive tourist destinations. The need to protect and improve bathing water quality in both marine and freshwater environments is thus a key issue for policy makers and environmental managers.

For decades, European countries have shared a common vision to sustain good quality bathing waters. Efforts to achieve this target have been prompted and supported by the Bathing Water Directive, introduced in 1976. The Bathing Water Directive (BWD) was revised in 2006. The update was based on up-to-date scientific evidence on the most reliable indicator parameters for predicting microbiological health risk for designated European bathing waters. In addition, the updated BWD simplified its management and surveillance methods.

The bathing season in Europe usually lasts from May to September. During that time, local and national authorities take bathing water samples and analyse them for the types of bacteria which indicate pollution from sewage or livestock (e.g. Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci). Based on the levels of bacteria detected, bathing water quality is then classified as ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘sufficient’ or ‘poor’.