Only seven of the total 2,291 bathing waters in Germany were classified as ‘poor’ in the 2023 season. In 155 cases, bathers were banned from bathing or advised against bathing as a precautionary measure to protect their health. In the most frequent cases, this was due to the occurrence of Cyanobacteria (‘blue-green algae’, 94 times) or for water hygiene reasons (37 times). The cause of inadequate hygienic water quality was mostly due to heavy rainfall events that had carried dirty water into the bodies of water. In a further 24 cases, established predictive and early warning systems warned of possible pollution in bathing waters.

In the 2023 bathing season, 2,291 German bathing water sites were investigated and a total of 13,295 water samples were analysed. Of these bathing water sites, 362 were located on the coasts of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, 1,892 on lakes and reservoirs and 37 in inland waters.

The current measurement data for each bathing water site can be viewed online on the websites of the federal states. An overview is available on the ⁠UBA⁠ website at water quality in bathing waters.