Last week the results prepared by the European Environment Agency on the non-compliance of the Fòrum beach (Sant Adrià de Besòs) where the prohibition of bathing and/or the implementation of preventive measures in bathing areas were advised. . For its part, the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) ensures that the analyzes show that the quality of the water is excellent.
According to the Catalan agency, the report prepared by the European body calculates the results of water quality as a result of the accumulated sampling carried out in the last four years (2019 to 2022) and carrying out a statistical treatment of the data in accordance with Directive 2006 /7/CE to obtain the global result of the period; It is therefore a statistical assessment and not recent results. Therefore, the meaning of annual insufficient or suspended means that, in the last four bathing seasons as a whole, there has been some value of the microbiological indicators (Escherichia coli and intestinal Enterococci) that have temporarily exceeded the thresholds of Directive 2006/7/EC, as a consequence of short-term pollution episodes caused by a few days of rain in summer.
This fact means that after a rain, the sanitary quality of the water with respect to microbiology (intestinal Enterococci and Escherichia coli), in all probability it will not be suitable for bathing in the area of influence of the Besòs river and in the storm outlets. However, it has been analytically proven on many occasions that, after 24-48 hours in sunny weather, the sanitary quality recovers and the water is once again suitable for bathing.
However, in the analytical results carried out by the ACA during 2022, from June to September, the quality of the Forum beach has been excellent in eight of the samplings carried out, good in two samplings, and only one of the controls produced a punctual alteration of the quality due to the intense rains that affected the central coast at the end of August, recovering the excellent quality of the water after 48 hours, and confirmed with the analytical results of new follow-up controls.
Precisely the part of the beaches closest to the mouth of the Besòs are cordoned off, as a preventive measure, and when a specific change in quality is detected on the beach, the public is always informed (yellow or red flag) and a notice is published. of precaution in the application of daily information on the state of the beaches.
From the Sant Adrià City Council they point out that they contacted the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) to find out the veracity of the information. The conclusion is that the EEA report recommends taking the appropriate measures on the Fòrum beach when there are heavy episodes of rain, something that is already done by protocol. Sant Adrià de Besòs has two beaches, the Litoral beach and the Fòrum beach, each one on the edge of the mouth of the Besòs river.
Usually, during the bathing season, the sanitary quality of the waters of these two beaches is good or excellent, except when there are precipitations of a certain intensity on the coast, since the level of risk of alteration of the bathing water quality is high in the two beaches of Sant Adrià (18% of the beaches in Catalonia have a high risk of being affected by rain and are located, mainly, in Maresme Barcelonès and Baix Llobregat).
When there is heavy rainfall, rainwater goes directly to the sea, mostly through natural courses (rivers, irrigation, streams, torrents...). A part of the rain also goes to the urban sewerage and to the interceptor collectors, exiting to the sea through storm drains and spillways. These punctual spills of rainwater, mixed with wastewater from the urban sewer system, are called Discharges from Unitary Systems (DSU) and contribute fecal contamination to bathing waters in rainy weather.
The bathing season begins from June 1 to September 15, and during this period the ACA carries out eight samplings, one every fortnight. Therefore, they affirm from the City Council, in the absence of rain, the microbiological quality of the bathing waters on the beaches of Sant Adrià is usually good or excellent during the bathing season.
Bathers can find out about the temporary alteration of the quality of the bathing waters due to rain through the safety flag on the beaches, charged to the Rescue and Lifeguard Services and through the Playas.Cat mobile application where the ACA reports daily on the water quality of the beaches and cautionary notices are posted when necessary.
