5,926 kilometres (3,682.2 miles) out of 6,242 kilometres (3,878.6 miles) of the Italian bathing coastline are of excellent quality. Thus 94.9% of the coastline that is monitored under the European Bathing Water Directive reaches the highest level of the classification system. The National System for Environmental Protection (SNPA) has updated the classification of the 4,524 Italian coastline bathing waters, based on data provided by the Regional Environmental Protection Agencies (ARPAs). Data includes also Sicily, whose bathing waters are monitored by local health authorities.
A vast majority of Italian sea bathing waters therefore reach an excellent quality, whereas 207 kilometres (128.6 miles) are classified as good (3.3% of bathing coastline), 60 kilometres (37.3 miles) are classified as sufficient (1%), and 41 kilometres (25.5 miles) are classified as poor (0.7%), the lowest level of the European classification system. Unclassified 8 kilometres (5 miles) must be added (0.1%), with not yet completed data sets for classification.
Those percentages do not include a part of the coastline that is not involved into the monitoring programme. Those areas could not be classified for bathing, whatever the results of monitoring would point out, since they host harbours, military or protected areas, mouths of rivers, etc. The monitoring programme is carried out according to the parameters required under the European Bathing Water Directive, i.e. Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci, as indicators of faecal contamination.
Sampling activities are conducted by the Agencies of the National System for the Environmental Protection in all the coastal regions. Monitoring continues during all the bathing season, with a frequency of at least one sample per month for each bathing water. About 30,000 sea water samples have been collected in 2025, including both routine and extra samples. Cases of short-term pollution detected by routine sampling are among the possible reasons for extra sampling. Those data on samples do not include emergency sampling in case of notices of anomalies.
All the regions present high shares of coastline of excellent quality, reaching up to almost 100%. At percentages close to or above 90%, differences may also depend on specific territorial features as well as on impacts exerted by coastal hydrological basins.
Additionally, in Italy some inland waters are monitored to assess quality under the European Bathing Water Directive. Among 673 kilometres (418,2 miles) of monitored riverside and lakeside, 624 kilometres (387.7 miles) are of excellent quality (92.7%), 28 kilometres (17.4 miles) of good quality (4.1%), 14 kilometres (8.7 miles) of sufficient quality (2.1%), 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) of poor quality (0.9%), 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) is unclassified (0.2%). For inland bathing waters as well, monitoring activities are carried out almost everywhere in Italy by the Environmental Agencies, except in Lombardy and in the Province of Trento, where they are entrusted to the health system.
Law references for bathing waters monitoring are the European Bathing Water Directive (Directive 2006/7/EC), incorporated into Italian legislation by the legislative decree no. 116/2008, and the implementing decree Ministerial Decree of March 30, 2010, as subsequently modified by the Ministerial Decree of April 19, 2018.
During the bathing season, in case of monitoring results that exceed law limits, municipal authorities must promptly adopt temporary bathing prohibitions. Bathing prohibitions must be adopted in case of non-conformities, either as an outcome of routine sampling, or following emergence sampling. In case of emergence sampling, chemical contamination may also be investigated, by measuring concentrations of such compounds as surfactants or hydrocarbons. Furthermore, for waters affected by algal blooms, surveillance is provided to detect potentially toxic organisms, namely cyanobacteria or algae such as Ostreopsis ovata.
Whether or not pollution-related, all cases of danger for bathers must prompt authorities to adopt proper management measures, including bathing prohibition if needed.