Less Than 23% Of Brazilian Beaches Have Been Sanitary Since 2016

Brazil's coast is 4,600 miles long, with 1,188 areas where the water quality has been measured in the last three years

Vitória Beach, in Jericoacoara, in the state of Ceará Folhapress

Salvador , Rio de Janeiro , Curitiba , Ribeirão Preto (SP) and Recife

Along the 4,600 miles of Brazilian shoreline, 1,188 areas had their water quality monitored in the past few years. But only 283 (23%) of them had a perfect record of clean water, week after week, from 2016 to 2018.

In the Northeast, Bahia is the highlight. The state has 17 beaches considered spotless during that period, most of them along the northern coast, from the border with Sergipe to the capital Salvador.

In Rio de Janeiro, one out of five monitors beaches had a perfect record -- 58 out of a total of 277 beaches. One of them is Itacoatiara, in Niterói, squeezed between two hills with only one narrow road as access.

Along the São Paulo coast, only 41 out of 174 monitored beaches had perfect water quality records, most of them located in the northern portion of the shoreline, in towns like Ubatuba, São Sebastião, Caraguatatuba, and Ilhabela. Many are famous among tourists, like Juqueí, in São Sebastião, known for its clear waters and good restaurants.

In Southern Brazil, Paraná appears on the list with Ilha do Mel, and Florianópolis, in Santa Catarina, has five stretches of sand were considered spotless:  Praia Brava, Praia da Solidão, Praia do Forte, Praia Mole, and Santinho.

The numbers also show that 399 beaches were considered either bad or poor - meaning they were found not suited for swimming during more than three months of the year - in 2018. The general data shows that in 2018, 36% of the monitored Brazilian beaches were considered good, 31% average, 15% bad and 18% poor.

Translated by NATASHA MADOV

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