Bathing Water Quality
 The European Commission, in the 1970's, decided that bathing water quality should be monitored and tested in order
to protect bathers from health risks and to preserve the environment from pollution. This resulted in 1976 in
one of the first pieces of European environmental legislation: the Council Directive 76/160/EEC on Bathing Water
Quality. This was transposed into local legislation by the Public Health (Quality of Bathing Water) Rules 1992,
prior to this the Directive had been given effect by a Ministerial Direction.
The 1976 Bathing Water Directive set binding standards for bathing waters throughout the European Union. The annual
Bathing Water Report and Tourist Atlas can be viewed
at http://ec.europa.eu/water/water-bathing/report_2006.html
The 1976 Bathing Water Directive reflected the state of knowledge and experience of the early 1970s, both
technically and socially. Since 1976, epidemiological knowledge has progressed and managerial methods have
improved.
A new Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC) was adopted last 15th February 2006 and will replace the existing
directive by 2014. It has still not been transposed in Gibraltar. Bathing sites will be classified into four
categories: "excellent," "good," "sufficient" or "poor".
The new Directive lays down provisions for more sophisticated monitoring and classification of bathing water.
Directive 2006/7/EC requires Member States to draw up a management plan for each site to minimise risks to bathers,
based on an assessment of the sources of contamination that are likely to affect it.
Information on a bathing site's quality classification, the results of water quality monitoring, the site's
management plan and other relevant information is to be made readily available to the public, both through
displays at the site and through the media and internet.
The classification of water quality at a bathing site will be determined on the basis of a three-year trend
instead of a single year's result as at present. This means that the classification will be less susceptible
to bad weather or one-off incidents. Where water quality is consistently good over a three-year period the
frequency of sampling may be reduced.
Gibraltar has six bathing areas, Camp Bay, Catalan Bay, Eastern Beach, Little Bay, Sandy Bay and Western Beach.
These areas are monitored on a fortnightly basis during 15th April to 30th October each year. Latest Analysis
The Gibraltar beaches have always met the Mandatory Values and at least three of them have met the more stringent
Guide Values consistently each year. Since 2003 all six sites have met the Guide Values. Below is a table of the
results for the period 1997 - 2005.
While the current directive requires regular monitoring of a number of pollutants or other parameters (for example,
water colour), the revised directive reduces this number to just two microbiological indicators of faecal contamination,
E. Coli and Intestinal Enterococci. This simplification reflects recognition that faecal material, for instance due to
inadequate sewage treatment and pollution from animal waste, is the primary health threat to bathers.
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