THE European Environment Agency (EEA) has released detailed findings on the quality of EU bathing water, with 93% of sites meeting the minimum standards.
In France, 87.1 % of the coastal bathing waters met the mandatory water quality in 2012, an increase of 1.4 % compared to the previous year.
While for inland bathing water 87.1% of locations met the mandatory water quality standards for 2012, a decrease of 5.7% compared to the previous year.
A total of 34 bathing waters (2.6 %) were non-compliant with the mandatory value for Escherichia coli compared to 23 in 2011, which is an increase of 0.8 %.
The EEA collects samples before the start of the holiday season and monthly during the summer, from May to September.
Laboratory tests are carried out which look for certain types of bacteria that could indicate the presence of pollution, primarily from sewerage or livestock waste.
The EEA data is extensive, covering more than 22,000 sites, but a table is available online that enables you to drill down to individual locations.