The French government have made available a dedicated site in English to check the quality of bathing water anywhere in the country.

The site provides information on the results of tests of bathing water at both seaside locations and inland lakes.

You are able to view the overall result for each of the last four years, as well as all the results undertaken in the current year. During the bathing season water quality tests are carried out on a monthly basis, so you will be able to see the trend during the year.

In accordance with European regulations, there is a fourfold grading system.

1. A. Good Quality
2. B. Average Quality
3. C. Temporarily Polluted
4. D. Poor Quality

As there is only one overall result for previous years, it is not possible to follow the quality of water during the whole of the test period. Some lakes and beaches can be temporarily polluted, but this may only be for a part of the season, often towards the end of it.

The eaux de baignade website has both French and English language versions. It contains an interactive map with a zoom facility to go to the area in which you are interested, as well as a search box to select the location you seek. It is not the most responsive of websites, so you may have to persist a little to get it to show you the results!

Alternatively, you will also find the results posted at a location near all beaches or and lakes, and you will also be able to obtain them from your local mairie.

In test results submitted to the European Union in June, 96% of French bathing waters tested complied with the regulatory criteria, placing France in third position behind Cyprus and Greece in the overall quality of bathing water. Around 70% of all bathing waters in France were tested for this survey, one of the highest percentage levels in Europe.

Whether this quality record will be maintained in the future remains in some doubt, as the European Union have agreed new standards that are to be implemented no later than 2015, and early indications are that as many as 1 in 6 beaches in France may fail to reach the new standard. The position is very similar across the rest of Europe.

Those beaches and lakes in France that have made a particular effort to ensure high quality environmental standards are awarded the 'Pavilion Bleu'.

The criteria used in the selection of the beaches are: general environmental quality, management of waste, water management, and public information about the environment.

You can find a list of the selected sites at Pavilion Bleu Awards 2010.