The beaches of Saint-Nicolas, in Granville, and the one opposite the casino of Saint-Pair-sur-Mer are closed to swimming and fishing on foot. Blame it on traces of the E. coli bacteria found in these waters.
Two new beaches have just closed in Normandy! In fact, since the start of summer, almost every week, one or more beaches in the Granville sector (Manche, 50) have been subject to a bathing ban. And this time, it is the beaches of Saint-Nicolas in Granville and the casino in Saint-Pair-sur-Mer which are again prohibited for swimming and fishing on foot, as a preventive measure. But why ?
Traces of the bacterium Escherichia coli
In this case, it was the samples taken during the last ban that revealed the presence in these bathing waters of a bacterium, Escherichia coli, which is usually found in the toilets. This can sometimes be the cause of more or less serious intestinal infections. And according to Francetv info, the phenomenon is recurrent in this sector. “There is a problem of individual or collective sanitation, a malfunction with possible bad connections, and a problem of leaching of the watershed, we are an agricultural land”, explained recently at the microphone of his journalists Gérard Dieudonné, president of the Union des Bassins Versants Granvillais. So, which beach (s) to choose to enjoy the sand serenely?
Only 3.5% of bathing sites of insufficient quality
If you want to know in real time the quality of the water in your holiday resort, nothing could be simpler, just go to the website of the ministry in charge of health ” bathing.sante.gouv.fr »Where the results of the quality checks of bathing water carried out by the regional health agencies (ARS) can be found. The latter have also confirmed this Friday the “good level of quality” of bathing water in France.
In fact, during the 2013 bathing season, there are a total of 3,331 checkpoints (1,297 in fresh water and 2,034 in seawater) spread over 1,690 municipalities, in 94 metropolitan and overseas departments. , which were the subject of 33,615 water samples representing more than 66,000 microbiological analyzes.
And the results of the analyzes taken into account to establish the 2013 ranking will undoubtedly reassure holidaymakers. Thus, in 2013 in France, 88% of bathing sites were classified as excellent or of good quality. Only 3.5% of the French sites where you bathe were classified of insufficient quality, that is to say 116 sites.
Distribution of bathing waters according to their classification in 2013
Source: Directorate General of Health
Polluted water, infectious risk to the key
Regarding the latter sites, it is better to avoid them. Because swimming can present health risks if pollution affects the quality of the water. The main danger is the risk of infection, linked to the presence of pathogenic germs that can be the cause of pathologies in the ENT sphere, the digestive system (gastroenteritis) or the eyes.
And this contamination has multiple origins. Beyond that caused by the bather himself, the pollution of bathing water is most often due to malfunctioning of wastewater collection and treatment works or to heavy rains bringing pollutants by runoff on the land upstream of the bathing areas.
Finally, if you already want to know some of the beaches where you will not have to worry about these risks, know for example that in Corsica, almost (except 2) all the sea water has a “good” or “Excellent”. This is also the case for the PACA region which can “almost” boast of having the same results as its Corsican neighbor.
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