Despite Malta continuing to boast some of the cleanest bathing waters in Europe, a new analysis has found that Balluta Bay and St George’s Bay consistently record the highest levels of bacterial contamination among the islands’ official swimming sites.The study, compiled by marine biologist Vincent Axiak, analysed the first 10 weeks of Malta’s 2026 official bathing season using data from the Environment Protection Directorate.It found that around 96% to 97% of Malta’s bathing areas met the EU’s “Excellent” water quality standard, with only a handful of sites temporarily falling below that level.However, when comparing levels of Escherichia coli (E. coli), a bacterium commonly used as an indicator of sewage contamination, Balluta and St George’s Bay ranked as the least clean bathing sites.According to the analysis, the two St Julian’s beaches have consistently recorded higher levels of bacterial contamination over the past three to five years.Other sites with relatively higher levels included Tax-Xema, Tal-Għażżenin and Sirens, all of which are located along heavily urbanised coastlines.The report also noted that Exiles and Pretty Bay experienced temporary bathing bans earlier this season due to short-term pollution events. However, these incidents did not significantly affect their overall water quality ratings.On the other end of the spectrum, Comino’s three official bathing sites all maintained excellent water quality, with the Blue Lagoon ranking among the cleanest despite welcoming huge numbers of swimmers every day.According to the analysis, this suggests that bather density alone is not responsible for poorer water quality, with other environmental factors likely playing a larger role.The findings are based on archived monitoring data collected by the Environment Protection Directorate and assessed in line with the EU Bathing Water Directive and the Barcelona Convention.What do you make of these findings?•