Dutch swimming water increasingly polluted, researchers find

Swimming water in the Netherlands is still often polluted with chemicals and bacteria, according to new research by an environmental group and The Netherlands Institute for Ecology.

The researchers investigated the water quality from 205 official swimming locations and 57 other popular urban swimming spots

They were looking for 122 pollutants and found excess quantities of 35 substances in ponds, rivers and lakes around the country.

According the report, the number of locations with pollution rising. In particular incidents of blue-green algae have gone up in the past five years.

Water quality testing in the Netherlands focuses primarily on contaminants that cause acute health risks like blue-green algae and E. coli, and doesn’t include industrial substances and pesticides.

The group is calling for for stricter licensing of waste water disposal and increased monitoring of bathing waters.