Santa Teresa, La Licciola . Porto Faro, Palau . Both since July 8th. And since yesterday , Punta Negra , in Alghero. These are the latest blemishes in the panorama of excellent sea conditions in Sardinia. The Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPAS) has declared the water's hygiene and health standards "outside the norm" and has urged mayors to issue ordinances to impose a bathing ban.
The causes? The same ones that led to the same measure in recent days at Poetto (and shortly thereafter in front of the Santa Lucia tower in Siniscola): high concentrations of Escherichia coli or intestinal enterococci. These are bacteria found in the human intestine.
At La Licciola, Escherichia coli levels were 885 CFU (colony forming units) per 100 milliliters. The limit is 500. Enterococci, on the other hand, are causing the problem at Porto Faro: they had a level of 1,652 CFU, compared to the alarm threshold of 200.
The data from Punta Negra are completely off the charts: both enterococci and escherichia coli are higher than 2005.
The ARPAS documents do not mention the causes.
