Water at nearly all Europe's coastal and inland bathing sites is clean enough to bathe and swim in, despite a slight decrease in quality.
The top performers in 2010 were Cyprus, with 100% of sites rated excellent, followed by Croatia (97.3%) and Malta (95.4%).
In the UK, 81.7% of sites were excellent, 96.9% were good, while 16 bathing spots failed to make the grade.
92% of beaches and 90% of rivers and lakes currently meet the EU's minimum standards for cleanliness.
The findings - from the European Environment Agency's annual bathing water report - are based on regular samples taken from more than 21 000 coastal and inland bathing sites across Europe. The sites were regularly tested for harmful pollutants and bacteria, such as E. coli.
While overall fewer sites met the EU's minimum standards compared with 2009, a number of countries registered exceptional results.
The European Environment Agency has called on EU countries to do more to improve water quality across Europe.
Uniwater has acquired Hy-Ram Engineering, a specialist in tooling, products and hire for the water sector, based in Mansfield, England.
Enpure Ltd and Clean TeQ Water Ltd have announced a collaboration agreement to bring Clean TeQ Water's Moving Bed Ion Exchange-based nutrient removal technologies to water utilities across the UK.
Near-real-time microbial monitoring of wastewater discharge and bathing waters is now possible thanks to the BactoSense ID solution created by Swiss-based bNovate Technologies.
ABB has launched AquaMaster+™, a digital platform for smart water network management, designed to help water utilities monitor, analyze and manage their water networks, preventing pipeline water losses and optimizing operations.
Southern Water has released film and images showing what it’s like to walk inside Hampshire’s expanded Yew Hill underground reservoir for the very last time, before it gets filled with water.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.