Bathing waters are those waters in which a large number of people are expected to bathe and where bathing has not been permanently banned or advised against. Bathing is only permitted in waters classified as bathing waters.

Bathing waters are classified annually based on the results of water monitoring over a period of at least 4 years or using 16 samples.

Bathing waters are monitored regularly, and a sampling schedule is defined for each bathing season. Based on the monitoring results, the quality of the bathing water is assessed and given a classification as “Poor”, “Acceptable”, “Good” or “Excellent”, based on the criteria defined in the legislation, namely the presence of intestinal Enterococci and Escherichia coli , and the tendency for the proliferation of cyanobacteria, macroalgae and/or marine phytoplankton is also assessed.

The APA is responsible for defining and implementing the monitoring program and classifying bathing waters.