The management of bathing water quality is governed by Directive 2006/7/EC of 15 February 2006 and transposed into national law by Decree-Law No. 135/2009 of 3 June, which was amended by Decree-Law No. 113/2012 of 23 May. The Directive establishes the regime for identifying, monitoring, and classifying the quality of bathing water and providing information to the public about them, with the aim of preventing risks to human health and preserving, protecting, and improving the environment.
A monitoring programme is established for each bathing water before the start of each bathing season, with a maximum one-month interval between samples.
Water quality needs to be assessed during the bathing season to prevent potential health risks caused by short-term pollution or abnormal situations. To achieve this, a sample-by-sample assessment is carried out, based on the standard presented below.
The limit values, established by the decision of 12/02/2010, of the Technical Commission for Monitoring Decree-Law 135/2009 of 3 June, as amended by Decree-Law 113/2012 of 23 May, are:
| Bathing Water/ Parameter | MVR (Max Value Recomended) | MVA (Max Value Allowed) |
| Intestinal Enterococcus (CFU/100mL) | Escherichia coli (CFU/100mL) | |
| Interior | 660 | 1800 |
| Coastal or transitional | 350 | 1200 |
CFU – colony-forming units
The analyses represented here are carried out by the Laboratory of the Portuguese Environment Agency, and the timing, collection and analysis are the responsibility of the APA (Portuguese Environment Agency).
Check Water quality analysis results here