Original scientific paper

Bathing Quality of the Sea in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and in the Rijeka Area in the Past Decade

Darija Vukić Lušić orcid.org/0000-0003-0534-2547 ; Nastavni zavod za javno zdravstvo Primorsko-goranske županije, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Arijana Cenov orcid.org/0000-0002-6731-7868 ; Nastavni zavod za javno zdravstvo Primorsko-goranske županije, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Dražen Lušić orcid.org/0000-0002-1636-6512 ; Sveučilište u Rijeci, Medicinski fakultet, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Marin Glad orcid.org/0000-0001-9567-3897 ; Nastavni zavod za javno zdravstvo Primorsko-goranske županije, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Slaven Jozić orcid.org/0000-0002-0671-2194 ; Institut za oceanografiju i ribarstvo, Split, Hrvatska
Marta Alvir orcid.org/0000-0003-4711-987X ; Sveučilište u Rijeci, Tehnički fakultet, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Lado Kranjčević orcid.org/0000-0001-7469-3135 ; Sveučilište u Rijeci, Tehnički fakultet, Rijeka, Hrvatska

Abstract

Since the Republic of Croatia is a tourism-oriented country, bathing quality of the sea has a great public-health importance. The objective of this paper is to present the quality of the sea on the beaches in the Rijeka area in the past decade and compare it with the quality of the sea in the Primorje - Gorski Kotar County (PGKC), on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea (HR) and in the European Union (EU). A comparison of the quality of the sea on the beaches in the Rijeka area, PGKC and HR during a ten-year period shows that the Rijeka area records the lowest share of beaches with excellent quality of the sea (76.4%) and the highest share of those assessed as poor (8.0%). The share of locations assessed as excellent in the PGKC and HR is similar (around 95%). The share of beaches assessed as excellent in the PGKC and HR is higher by 12% in comparison to the EU during a ten-year period.
Despite a significant improvement in the quality of the sea both at the level of EU and HR, faecal pollution is still recorded in some locations. This is particularly marked in some locations in Rijeka’s western part, which is the area with the highest microbiological load in the PGKC. In order to improve the understanding of pollution causes in some locations in the Rijeka area, we have analysed the relation between microbiological indicators and environmental indicators (water and air temperature, salinity, precipitation quantity, solar irradiance). In such locations, additional efforts should be made to remediate pollution sources.

Keywords

bathing quality of the sea, Escherichia coli, enterococci, precipitation, coastal springs, salinity, solar irradiance

Hrčak ID:

261223

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/261223

Publication date:

30.6.2021.

Article data in other languages: croatian german

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