The water at Europe’s beaches, rivers and lakes was generally of high quality in 2014, with 95 % of these sites meeting minimum requirements according to the annual bathing water quality report published on May 20 by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission. Greece came in 4th with high proportion of sites with excellent bathing water quality (97%) after Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta.

In Greece, a total of 1540 bathing waters have been reported – 7.2% of all bathing waters in Europe. Out of all bathing waters in Greece, 1.43% have been newly identified in the 2014 season. 99.8% of bathing waters in Greece are of coastal type; the other are inland (two bathing waters). Furthermore, 9340 samples were taken at bathing waters throughout the season – 6 per bathing water on average. Alongside the report, the EEA has published an interactive map showing the performance of each bathing site.


The local authorities – the Special Secretariat for Water at the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change - collect and monitor samples at local beaches during the bathing season. Waters can be classified as "excellent," "good," "sufficient" and "poor quality." These classifications are based on the levels of two types of bacteria which indicate pollution caused by waste-water or livestock waste. These bacteria can cause illnesses, such as vomiting or diarrhea, in the case of ingestion.