Bathing season 2025: Klietz with inadequate – what now applies to swimmers!

Bathing season 2025: Klietz with inadequate – what now applies to swimmers!

The 2025 bathing season is already well underway in many German regions, but things are not going well everywhere. An example of this is the Klietz bathing lake in the Stendal district, which was rated “poor” after the 2024 season. Bathing operations began here regularly in order to avert a permanent ban on bathing. In order to bring the water back into better condition, certain ditches have been cleared and a reed belt is to be renatured in order to improve the water quality. The pressure is growing and action is urgently needed.

A new face can also be seen in the Pappelgrund family and natural pool in Teutschenthal in the Saale district. A new operator has taken over the helm here, and after being closed due to lack of management, the pool has now officially opened the bathing season. Those responsible are positive and hope to make the place a popular destination for families.

Bathing bans and surveillance

Another important topic this year is the bathing bans, which were imposed due to quality deficiencies. For example, the bathing ban for the Hufeisensee in Halle has been lifted, although officially this does not remain a bathing water because there are latent dangers from contaminated groundwater. The Ministry of Health strongly recommends that you only swim in publicly designated swimming areas. These places are regularly inspected by health authorities to ensure the safety of bathers. Water samples will be taken and examined at maximum intervals of one month until September 15th, and site visits will also take place.

In the entire 2024 bathing season, only nine of 2,291 German bathing waters were rated “poor”, as umweltbundesamt.de reported. The main reasons for the bathing bans were the massive occurrence of cyanobacteria and the effects of heavy rainfall, especially in southern Germany. These contributed to the fact that dirty water inputs impaired the hygienic water quality.

Current bathing water measurement data can be viewed on the federal state websites, and the Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG) provides an interactive map application that provides an overview of the quality classifications and historical data. Bathing water is monitored by the individual federal states, which take the water samples and transmit the data to the BfG at the end of the season. This information is then summarized and forwarded to the European Commission.

A look at the fees

The entry prices in some outdoor pools have also changed, which became clear in the latest research by mdr.de. Families who want to cool off in the water on hot days also have to be careful about the additional costs. It remains to be seen how the situation will develop and whether the measures to improve water quality will bear fruit.

For everyone who wants to know exactly, bundesumweltministerium.de has bundled all the necessary information. If you prepare well, you can enjoy the summer by the water to the fullest, despite all the challenges.