The Good, the Bad, and the Polluted: A Look at Water Quality for Sailors and Watersports.

With the weather heating up many across Europe will be looking to get out on the water, but no one wants to swim in polluted water, right? 

With that thought in mind, the team at Rooster thought it would be worth taking a look at the different countries in Europe and their respective water quality ratings to find out which, on average, provides the cleanest waterways no matter what sport you are engaging in. The assumption is that countries with good water quality and low microplastic pollution would be more suitable for swimming and other watersports. However, our findings prompted us to ask more questions rather than offering clear answers.  

The map shows the water quality in each European country combined with the microplastic pollution level in tonnes. As you hover over the map, you can check the water quality for each country. The gradient in colour reflects how high or low the water quality is.  

What did we find?

The majority of the countries had a high proportion of good water quality, with 4 countries having a proportion of good water quality under 50, 9 countries between 50-70, and 30 countries over 70.

However, there was a poor correlation between high quality and low microplastic pollution. In fact, many countries with a very high proportion of good water quality also had significant levels of microplastic pollution. For example, while Germany had an impressive 90.3% of bathing sites with good water quality, it also had a notable amount of microplastic pollution at 74,000 tonnes.  

Moreover, upon analysing the data, we found that Western Europe had the highest average microplastic pollution, while Northern Europe had the least microplastic pollution in waterways. Once again however, both regions had an average of 80% good water quality.

There are a few potential reasons to explain the weak connection between water quality and microplastic pollution:

●   The water quality data is taken from bathing sites, which are usually known to be used by people for watersports and other recreational activities. However, the data for microplastic pollution is taken from waterways, which encompasses more than bathing sites and can be used for a variety of purposes, such as vehicular passage and transporting goods.

●   Such waterways may be more prone to microplastic pollution as they include a broader set of waterways used for a range of purposes. This may explain the notable levels of microplastic pollution for many of the countries.

●   Another reason may be that the majority of water quality assessments do not test for microplastic pollution, usually only testing for bacteria harmful to humans. However, should water quality assessments start considering microplastic pollution?

Are Water Quality Assessment Missing a Major Factor?

After further research, we found that the majority of water quality assessments don’t factor in microplastic pollution, with only certain bacteria such as Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci taken into account.

This may be because research into the impact of microplastic pollution on humans and the environment is relatively recent. However, research has been done which proves that microplastics in water can affect not only those in the water, but also those within the area. Moreover, microplastics can be harmful to aquatic biota upon ingestion as they contain toxic chemicals and may absorb organic pollutants from the environment.

Regardless of the discrepancy between both factors, this doesn’t nullify the water quality data, considering that the microplastic pollution data is most likely taken from a wider or different set of waterways than that used for water quality assessments.

That being said, we were interested in discovering which countries had the highest proportions of good water quality, making them suitable destinations for watersports activities.

Best Performing European Countries

The Top 20 Best European Countries by water-quality 

●      Norway (100)

●      Cyprus (97.6)

●      Austria (96.9)

●      Croatia (96.7)

●      Greece (95.8)

●      Montenegro (95)

●      Bulgaria (94.8)

●      Denmark (94)

●      Malta (92)

●      Georgia (92)

●      Germany (90.3)

●      Italy (90.3)

●      Lithuania (89.3)

●      Luxembourg (88.2)

●      Spain (87.6)

●      Finland (87.2)

●      Portugal (86.2)

●      United Kingdom (86)

●      Liechtenstein (80)

●      Czech Republic (79.1)

●      Slovenia (78.7)

It’s good to see that the UK is included in the top 20 countries suitable for watersports activities, with 86% of its bathing sites meeting good water quality standards.

A few countries showed strong correlations between high proportions of good water quality and low levels of microplastic pollution.

Montenegro had the lowest amount of microplastic pollution with 95% of its bathing sites having good water quality. Cyprus also had a significantly lower amount of microplastic pollution compared to other countries, with 97.6% of its bathing sites boasting good water quality.

Three countries which may not be ideal for watersports activities are interestingly located within the same region in the Balkans, including Siberia, Albania, and Herzengovia. These countries hold the lowest portions of good water quality ranging from 30-50%.

Final Thoughts

The water quality and microplastics data showed us unexpected results, with high microplastic pollution levels even for countries with a proportion of good water quality of over 70%. This could be for several reasons, including a potentially wider or different set of waterways included in microplastic pollution assessments, and the absence of micro plastic inclusion in water assessments.

Due to these factors however, the data for good water quality can still be used to broadly reflect countries suitable for watersports activities. We hope this encourages watersports enthusiasts, athletes, and swimmers to discover the water sites within the United Kingdom and other countries that made the list.

Our Efforts for Sustainable Watersports

That said, the Rooster team recognises the importance of making watersports sustainable, especially for those who partake regularly. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional athlete, you may own or have old wetsuits and other watersports apparel lying unused.

As an initiative to reduce these items going to landfills, we’ve partnered with Mindful Manta, a UK-based company that turns wetsuits into sustainable accessories such as bags and small purses.

If you’d like to help reduce waste from unused wetsuits, you can drop off old or unused wetsuits at our Fareham office, after which we will send them to Mindful Manta to turn them into reusable and useful items.