Published by WESSA in BLUE FLAG PROGRAM (NEWSLETTER)
At the International Blue Flag meeting that took place in Brazil in late 2009, the Blue Flag
programme adopted some significant changes to the water quality criteria for the global programme. Many of the changes have been informed by changes coming through water quality research as well as developments within the European Union and WHO with respect to acceptable standards for bathing water.
The standards are now more strict than previously where up to 25% of samples were discarded if they exceeded the acceptable levels of indicator bacteria.
In terms of health risk, indicator bacteria limit values are now:-
100cfu/100ml water for faecal enterococcus
100cfu/100ml water for faecal enterococcus
250cfu/100ml for E.coli.
While the slight increase in the accepted levels of these indicator bacteria is
welcomed, compliance at a 95th percentile level puts pressure on coastal
municipalities to ensure that the water quality is maintained at a consistently
acceptable level as all samples taken are now included in assessment. Just one
exceptionally high reading per season has the potential to bring about non-
compliance at the 95th percentile level.
Other changes include the need to compile a bathing water profile for each specific
beach and to schedule water sampling according to a predetermined schedule of
monitoring.
