Not a summer like then: Since the sea is too polluted with bacteria in some places on the Italian east coast of Emilia Romagna, bathing is now banned in about 30 places. The popular seaside resort of Rimini is also affected – but the high values there cannot be explained.
As the newspaper “La Repubblica” reports, the regional environmental agency Arpae found that limit values for Escherichia coli bacteria were exceeded at 28 of the 98 sites surveyed. This intestinal germ, which is widespread worldwide, can cause diarrhea and blood poisoning, among other things.
Such high values usually only occur within 24 hours of heavy rainfall, when overflow pipes are opened into the sea. Given the recent massive drought in Italy, the burden cannot be explained in this way.
values are clearly too high
The sections where swimming is prohibited range from Goro to various places around Rimini and to Cattolica. “Other samplings are underway in the remaining bathing waters to monitor the trend of pollution phenomena and the return of bacteriological parameters that are not in accordance with legal regulations,” explains Arpae.
Rimini: “Perfect for swimming”
In what is probably the most famous seaside resort in the region, in Rimini, people are still trying to calm things down: “In our tests there was no excess,” the municipality said. Checks by an external laboratory showed that the legal limits for Escheria coli had not been exceeded.
“The results of the seawater samples for the seven bathing waters on the north coast of Rimini are only a few minutes old,” said the municipality. The samples were taken in the same places, on the same day and no more than half an hour after Arpae’s. The waters are therefore “perfect for swimming”.
Prolonged drought to blame?
The experts from the Environmental Department are already puzzling over how the high values came about. It could be a “combination of extraordinary weather events that together have had a particularly strong influence on seawater composition,” Arpae says.
In any case, the very high water temperatures for weeks, too little rain and the accompanying drought should have accelerated the effect. These are also the same causes that led to the spread of a microalgae, Fibrocapsa japonica, whose flowers turn the water rusty brown but are harmless to swimmers.
“Organic imbalance” not only in the region
In any case, a community crisis meeting with the Arpae experts will take place on Friday to find an explanation and at the same time a solution to the phenomenon. Emilia Romagna is not the only affected region. A similar “organic imbalance” has also been identified in other Italian sea sections.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
