Bathing water quality monitoring
Bathing water is any section of surface water where the competent authority expects a large number of bathers and for which it has not issued a permanent bathing ban or does not advise against bathing on a permanent basis.
On the website of the Bathing Water Atlas of Lower Saxony you will find information on all of the approximately 270 bathing waters in Lower Saxony.
Whether the water in a bathing water is safe for health is checked by the municipal health authorities during the official bathing season from 15 May to 15 September. The water samples are mainly examined for bacteria (E. coli and intestinal enterococci). These bacteria are not even normally pathogens. However, they can be an indication of faecal contamination and that there may be special pathogens in the water (indicator principle). If the limit values specified in the Lower Saxony Bathing Water Ordinance (BadegewVO) are exceeded, a bathing ban is pronounced.
Based on the monitoring results of the last four bathing seasons, each bathing water in a quality category is classified as 'excellent', 'good', 'sufficient' or 'poor'.
Extensive water-specific information, such as the indicator principle or bathing ban, can be found on the website of the Bathing Water Atlas of Lower Saxony, including pictures, maps and descriptions of the infrastructure. These can be found in the Bathing Water Atlas of Lower Saxony.
Who should I contact?
The responsibility lies with the district and the independent city.
Which documents are required?
Documents may be required. Please contact the competent authority.
What are the fees?
Information from the Bathing Water Atlas via the Internet is free of charge.
What deadlines do I have to pay attention to?
Deadlines may have to be observed. Please contact the competent authority.
Legal basis
Applications / forms
What else should I know?
Citizen participation in EU bathing water designation
If you have a concern about a specific bathing site that is not labelled as EU bathing water and is therefore not monitored by the competent authorities in terms of hygiene, you can contact the relevant competent authority.
In addition, you have the opportunity to make suggestions, make suggestions or make comments and complaints.
You will find detailed information on citizen participation as well as a form to download and fill out on the website of the Bathing Water Atlas of Lower Saxony
Technically approved by
Lower Saxony Ministry of Social Affairs, Health and Equality
Author
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
