A new study by PAKOE (Panhellenic Center for Ecological Research) on the quality of bathing water at Attica’s beaches has sparked intense debate, just a few days before the peak of the summer swimming season.
The sampling results highlight areas with elevated microbial levels, even as Greece continues to rank highly in international assessments of Blue Flag beaches. This discrepancy has sparked a new debate regarding the differing evaluation criteria and measurement methods.
Areas Deemed Unsuitable
According to PAKOE’s measurements, the most heavily polluted area is Porto Rafti, where five of the six sampling points were deemed unsuitable for swimming due to high microbial loads. Only Avlaki Beach is deemed suitable.
Similar problems have been identified along the coastline from Thymari to Lavrio, where the following locations are classified as unsuitable:
- Palaia Fokaia
- Legrena
- Sounio
- Asimaki
- Pountazeza
- Mavri Petra
- Daskalio (the 1st and 3rd small harbors and the main beach are unsuitable)
At the same time, according to the same study, problems have also been reported at beaches in Piraiki, Freattyda, Flisvos, and Loumbarda, as well as in parts of Anavyssos.
Special mention is also made of areas such as Sounion, Artemida (Loutsa), Zoumperi, and Nea Makri, where variations were recorded depending on the sampling location.
Which beaches are deemed suitable
In the same study, PAKOE also lists a number of beaches that fall within the permissible limits and are considered suitable for swimming.
Among them are:
- Thymari
- Charakas
- Mati
- Zouberi
- two locations in Nea Makri
- Marathon
- Schinias
Several organized beaches along the southern Attica coastline are also suitable, such as:
- Batis
- EDEM
- Alimos
- Glyfada
- Voula
- Vouliagmeni
- Varkiza
One of the key questions raised by the results is how two beaches located so close to each other can present such a completely different picture in terms of water quality.
SOURCE: ERT