Feasibility of an a priori measurement approach for bathing water quality
The European Commission, DG XII, has published a report on a workshop on the "Technical feasibility of an a priori measurement approach for managing bathing water quality". The workshop, held in Sitges, Spain, in April 1997, was supported by the Standards, Measurement and Testing (SMT) programme. The intention of the workshop was to provide a supplementary information tool to back up the progress made in improving bathing water quality in Europe on the basis of Directive 76/160/EEC. This Directive, adopted in 1976, has led to considerable improvements in water quality. However, the Directive involves only an annual monitoring exercise. By developing measuring systems, it would be possible to provide the public with relevant information on bathing water quality in a particular area on a day-to-day basis. Factors such as variations in weather conditions can have a major impact on bathing water quality. By integrating on-line and computerized tools for measuring and modelling water conditions, effluent levels and bacterial concentrations, as well as weather forecasting and geographical information services it should be possible to develop bathing water quality information services for the general public in an easily accessible format. By using these services, the individual citizen can be better informed of the current conditions in the immediate area. The proceedings of the workshop includes the conclusions of each of the workshop sessions, as well as the texts of the introductory lectures. A number of the papers presented at the event are also included in annex.