Recreational waters and Health-swimming against the tide

Abstract

This paper addresses the complex issue of recreational exposure to sewage contaminated waters. The types of hazard encountered are discussed and contextualised. Microbial measures of sewage contamination prove to be extremely unreliable. The links between microbial indicators and water quality and between water quality and demonstrable health effects are variable at best. The outcomes of epidemiological studies agree in general terms-exposed populations exhibit more symptoms-but rarely agree in specifics, such as threshold levels for particular indicator organisms. The drive to improve Europe's bathing beaches initiated by the European Union in its bathing water directive has been a temendous force for change. However, the investment of huge sums of money based on compliance with flawed microbiological standards is entirely inappropriate. Instead a holistic approach based on the assessment of all factors likely to promote risk to recreators is proposed. Such a beach registration scheme would remove the necessity to comply with fundamentally flawed and meaningless numerical standards.