Three months after the start of bathing water quality checks, ARPAC, within its institutional scope, has collected over 1270 seawater samples along the entire Campania coast. The majority of these samples relate to the monthly sampling required by the regional calendar from the 328 bathing waters into which the Campania coastline is divided. Approximately 290 additional samples were taken due to critical situations or emergencies caused by the presence of foam and abnormal water color.
The significant increase in withdrawals due to emergencies is probably attributable to a combination of factors determined by the weather conditions of this year's spring, in particular, the numerous rainy events that characterized the month of May. The fresh water that poured into the sea from the mainland brought floating waste and vegetal substances into coastal waters. Furthermore, these contributions made nutrients available for microalgal growth, slowed down by the overcast sky and poor lighting during the month of May, and exploded, instead, with the clear sky of June. The development of phytoplankton (microalgae) often caused the sea water to take on an unusual color that in the presence of patches or streaks of foam caused no small amount of alarm in bathers.
Analytical determinations on numerous samples taken for anomalous coloration or the presence of foam did not reveal in any case the presence of surfactants indicating contamination from civil waste. In very few cases, bacteriological parameters were exceeded due to fecal contamination, while an abundant proliferation of phytoplankton, of species not considered toxic to humans, was often found.
At the beginning of July, the bathing situation along the entire regional coast is characterised by very few critical issues.
There are no unfavorable data for the Province of Caserta, despite the great media coverage dedicated to the so-called "dirty sea of the Domitian coast", which returned to being crystal clear following the north-east wind that blew on Saturday 30 June.
For the Province of Naples, the water south of the Cuma purification plant in the Municipality of Pozzuoli, the water called S. Angelo in the Municipality of Serrara Fontana due to an alleged break in the underwater pipeline and a section facing Via Partenope in the Municipality of Naples remain temporarily prohibited.
In this last case, a first sampling was carried out for the presence of foam on 18 June, during which the Agency's technicians also detected the presence of plastic and waste of various kinds. The outcome of the analyses was unfavourable for the microbiological parameters determining bathing suitability, as communicated by ARPAC to the Municipality of Naples on 21 June. Subsequently, on 25 June, five further samplings were carried out, of which only one with an unfavourable outcome in correspondence with a rainwater channel approximately 130 metres south of the so-called Colonna Spezzata where it is possible to hypothesise the introduction of illegal discharges into this channel. The results of these last samplings were officially communicated on 28 June to the Municipality of Naples, as soon as the analytical findings were obtained.
In the Province of Salerno, however, critical issues remain in the Municipalities of Battipaglia and Pontecagnano Faiano for bathing waters influenced by polluting inputs from the mouths of the Tusciano and Picentino rivers respectively. Routine sampling scheduled for the month of July along the entire regional coast is planned for the beginning of next week. As usual, all results will be made public in real time on the Agency's Portal and, from this year, also on the "Arpac Balneazione" APP for mobile devices that allows consultation of analytical data and search for waters close to your geographical position.
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