4. Bathing water quality in 2009
As shown in Table 1a, 99.5% of the freshwater bathing waters met the mandatory value for
Escherichia coli
in 2009 according to assessment using limit values for
Escherichia coli
. The rate of
compliance with the guide value for
Escherichia coli
was 84%. Two bathing waters (0.5%) were non-
compliant with the mandatory value. No bathi
ng water had to be closed during the season.
As shown in Table 1b, 22% of the freshwater bathing waters met the mandatory water quality in 2009
according to transition period as
sessment. 21.7% of the bathing waters met the guide values. No
bathing water was non-compliant with mandatory value for
Escherichia coli
and no bathing water had
to be closed during the season. The reasons for thes
e low percentages are that (a) only three cantons
(Jura, Schaffhausen and Ticino) monitor intestinal
enterococci, and (b) only two cantons (Ticino and
Solothurn) carry out monitoring with sufficient fr
equency according to transition period assessment
rules. Therefore, all bathing waters with both para
meters and sufficient sampling frequency (84) were
reported by canton Ticino. In Ticino, 98.8% of the bathing waters met the mandatory value for
Escherichia coli
and 97.6% of the bathing waters met the guide values. Only one bathing water did not
meet the mandatory water quality since it was classified as insufficiently sampled (no data for intestinal
enterococci).
5. General information as provid
ed by the Swiss authorities
Responsibilities, laws and regulations
In Switzerland on national level, the areas of
public health and water management are managed by
two federal authorities, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and the Federal Office for the
Environment (FOEN). While the FOEN is responsible for all aspects of managing and conserving
quality and quantity of water resources (ground- and surface waters), the FOPH is concerned with
subjects such as epidemics and infectious diseases, hygiene, food safety and drinking water.
In the federal legislation, water quality, quantity and
management issues are primarily regulated in the
Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation of
18 April 1999 (SR 101), the Federal Act of 24
January 1991 on the Protection of Waters (SR 81
4.20) and the Water Protection Ordinance of 28
October 1998 (SR 814.201). Hygiene and public health issues are dealt with in the Federal Act of 9
October 1992 on Foodstuffs and Utility Articl
es (SR 817.0) and the corresponding implementing
ordinances. Cantonal and communal legislations can
supplement the federal legislation. The existing
cantonal legislation on water quality and management issues varies considerably.
National recommendations on bathing water quality monitoring
Since the nineteen sixties, efforts have been made in
Switzerland to protect the health of bathers by
the hygiene assessment of lake
and river baths. In 1991, a recommendation for the hygiene
assessment of lake and river baths was issued (available in German and French:
http://www.bag.admin.ch/themen/lebensmitte
l/04858/
04864/04904/04937/index.html?lang=de
). These
recommendations largely follow the EU Directive of 1976 (Directive 76/160/EEC).
Monitoring
According to the federal organization
and legislation of Switzerland t
he cantons are responsible for the
management of their water resources, including
the monitoring and assessment of bathing water
quality. Concretely, bathing water quality is monito
red and assessed by the cantonal laboratories, in
most cases on the basis of the Recommendat
ions of 1991. The focus therefore lies on
E. coli
and
Salmonella
, with a few cantons going beyond this to include other parameters such as intestinal
enterococci. The main differences in monitoring be
tween the various cantons therefore occur with
regard to monitoring frequencies (and not with regard to monitored parameters). For some reported
bathing water sites, samples are taken at three locati
ons (e.g. right, left, centre points of a site).
Public participation procedure and information to the public
Bathing water sites are identified on the basis of actual bathing practices, as the aim is to provide
adequate information to the public. Information on the monitoring results is usually available on the
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