Past, present and future perspectives of the EU Bathing Water Directive

The objectives of the EC Bathing Water Directive are to protect the environment and public health by reducing the pollution of bathing water and by protecting it from further deterioration (EEC, 1976; Gilles, 1992). For almost twenty years, the EU Directive has remained as it was originally postulated and during this time important contradictions have become evident. Furthermore, the microbiological indicators and their numerical standards need to be evaluated to see whether they are appropriate as they were postulated. This is the most controversial aspect, because there is no general agreement among the many different researchers about what the most appropriate indicators are (Saliba & Helmer, 1990; Fewtrell & Jones, 1992). It is generally accepted that the standards need to be updated on the basis of modern epidemiology and science but it is also recognized that this will be a slow process (Grantham, 1992). Recently a proposal for a new Directive has been published (EEC, 1994a) which introduced some important changes into the microbiological parameters. The purpose of this report is to use our experience and the available literature to discuss the limitations and contradictions of the present Directive and compare them with the new proposed modifications.