Overview

Use of coastal, estuarine and freshwater recreational environments has significant benefits for health and well-being, including rest, relaxation, exercise, cultural and religious practices, and aesthetic pleasure, while also providing substantial local, regional and national economic benefits. These guidelines focus on water quality management for coastal and freshwater environments to protect public health. The guidelines:

• describe the current state of knowledge about the possible adverse health impacts of various forms of water pollution; and
• set out recommendations for setting national health-based targets, conducting surveillance and risk assessments, putting in place systems to monitor and control risks, and providing timely advice to users on water safety.

These guidelines are aimed at national and local authorities, and other entities with an obligation to exercise due diligence relating to the safety of recreational water sites. They may be implemented in conjunction with other measures for water safety (such as drowning prevention and sun exposure) and measures for environmental protection of recreational water use sites.

Contents

• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Acronyms and abbreviations
• Executive summary
• 1. Introduction
  • 1.1. Scope
  • 1.2. Recreational water safety framework
  • 1.3. Audience and roles
  • 1.4. Cross-cutting and emerging issues
  • References
• 2. Health-based targets and surveillance
  • 2.1. Health-based targets
  • 2.2. Public health surveillance
  • References
• 3. Recreational water safety planning
  • 3.1. RWSP structure and development
  • 3.2. System assessment
  • 3.3. Monitoring
  • 3.4. Management and communication
  • 3.5. Review of RWSPs
  • References
• 4. Faecal pollution
  • 4.1. System assessment
  • 4.2. Monitoring
  • 4.3. Beach classification based on sanitary survey and water quality
  • 4.4. Management and communication
  • 4.5. Research needs
  • References
• 5. Harmful algal blooms
  • 5.1. Toxic cyanobacteria in freshwater and brackish water bodies
  • 5.2. Toxic algae and cyanobacteria in coastal water bodies
  • 5.3. Public communication
  • 5.4. Research needs
  • References
• 6. Other microbial hazards
  • 6.1. System assessment
  • 6.2. Monitoring
  • 6.3. Management and communication
  • 6.4. Research needs
  • References
• 7. Beach sand
  • 7.1. System assessment
  • 7.2. Monitoring
  • 7.3. Management and communication
  • 7.4. Research needs
  • References
• 8. Chemicals
  • 8.1. System assessment
  • 8.2. Monitoring
  • 8.3. Management and communication
  • 8.4. Research needs
  • References
• 9. Aesthetics and nuisance
  • 9.1. System assessment
  • 9.2. Monitoring
  • 9.3. Management and communication
  • 9.4. Research needs
  • References

This publication is the update of the Guidelines published in 2003 entitled “Guidelines for safe recreational water environments. Volume 1, Coastal and fresh waters”.

Suggested citation:

Guidelines on recreational water quality. Volume 1: coastal and fresh waters. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2021. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

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