Social Affairs Minister Petra Köpping (SPD) has called on bathers to help keep Saxony's waters clean at the start of the bathing season. "Please help to maintain the water quality and the good condition of the bathing areas. Don't leave any garbage behind and don't feed water birds," the politician said in a statement on Tuesday. In the past bathing season, Saxony's EU bathing waters were consistently confirmed to be of excellent microbiological quality. "Of course, we would like to see the same result this year," continued Köpping.
The bathing season is set to start this Wednesday. Bathing waters are to be regularly monitored for hygiene until September 15. To this end, the Saxon health authorities will inspect the bathing areas and take regular water samples, which will be tested for coliform bacteria and faecal contamination. The occurrence of blue-green algae will also be monitored.
In Saxony, 32 open-cast mining lakes and reservoirs are listed as EU bathing waters. This year, 28 of them are being monitored for hygiene. The results can be viewed online at www.gesunde.sachsen.de.
