New Technology Aims To Increase Public Safety In European Bathing Waters
05-Aug-2008
The public can now get clearer information on the quality of Europe's bathing waters, thanks to a new BMT Cordah forecasting tool.
The tool has been developed as part of the European project SANY, and builds on experience gained by BMT Cordah, part of the BMT Group Ltd, in developing bathing water quality prediction methods for the UK Environment Agency.
The bathing water forecast tool supports the revised Bathing Water Directive, which came into force in 2006. The directive states that local authorities must increase the information available to the public on bathing water quality, allowing bathers to make more informed decisions.
Bathing water quality is being subjected to increased scrutiny following reports from the Marine Conservation Society that water at UK beaches was adversely affected last year by the wet summer. This lead to a loss of ‘excellent' water quality status by 10 per cent of UK beaches-the biggest decline in 21 years.
Swimming and surfing at beaches with poor water quality can result in stomach and eye infections from the bacteria present in the water.
Responding to this problem, the internet-based BMT Cordah tool uses statistical analysis of historical weather, marine and social data to produce algorithms that can predict future conditions. To do so, it makes use of input data such as meteorological forecasts, tidal conditions and seasonal bathing trends.
The first version of the tool was demonstrated at a workshop held in the popular Polish Baltic Sea resort of Sopot and attended by 25 bathing water specialists from across the country. A workshop will be held in Southampton in September 2008 and is planned for France in May 2009 (see www.bmtcordah.com for updates on these events).
Zoheir Sabeur, Associate Director of BMT Cordah in Southampton commented: "The introduction of the new EU Bathing Water Directive has huge implications for bathing water quality management. BMT Cordah's tool will allow beach managers to predict the expected levels of bacteria in bathing water, and make informed decisions on whether water is suitable for bathing, to ensure public safety."
