All the beaches at the Jarun and Bundek lakes in Zagreb will be ready to welcome those who decide to spend long summer days inland rather than on the coast. The Andrija Štampar Institute has conducted an analysis which shows that water quality in the lakes is excellent this year, reports Večernji List on April 9, 2019.
Jarun’s Large Lake, Small Lake, Island of Rowers, Island of Trešnjevka and Island of Universiade will be available to swimmers starting from 1 June. The eastern, western and southern part of the Bundek lake will also be open for swimmers.
The last time such good water quality was recorded in 2017 when all the city beaches were also declared safe for swimmers. In recent years, there were occasional problems with water quality at some beaches. For example, in 2015, swimming was not allowed at Jarun’s Small Lake and on the Island of Universiade, while in 2016 the southern part of the Bundek Lake was closed down.
The worst situation occurred last year when water analysis showed that as many as three beaches at the Jarun Lake had to be closed down.
The way in which the Andrija Štampar Institute determines whether the water is of a good enough quality is quite simple. Samples taken during the previous season are compared to the samples taken prior to the new swimming season.
“Analysis of data found that, in the 2018 swimming season, out of the total of 128 individual samples taken at Jarun Lake, 125 were of excellent quality and three were of good quality, meaning that 98 per cent of samples were excellent,” explained the institute.
The new swimming season on the lakes will start on 1 June and last until 15 September. All the citizens at the official beaches will swim under the watchful eyes of lifeguards. On the other hand, citizens are advised against swimming at unofficial locations, although it does happen quite often.
“People often ignored the bans, although there were warnings posted everywhere that the water quality was not satisfactory. In particular, we were not able to convince people who have been coming here for years and who simply ‘had to take a swim in their Small Lake’”, said Jarun representatives.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Mateja Šobak).
More Zagreb news can be found in the Lifestyle section.
