Chania reinstates Blue Flag at Nea Chora beach after water tests confirm high quality
The Municipality of Chania and the Chania Water and Sewerage Company (DEYAX) reinstated the Blue Flag at Nea Chora beach on Friday, saying repeated water samples confirmed excellent quality and that sand tests taken after a recent malfunction were reassuring.
The flag was put back in place by Chania Mayor and DEYAX President Panagiotis Simandirakis, acting DEYAX General Director Eleftheria Loupasaki, and Blue Flag program inspector Mr. Stamatakis, who described the procedure and the strict criteria governing the program.
According to DEYAX, successive water samplings confirmed the excellent quality of the sea at the beach. Measurements taken on August 12, immediately after the malfunction, showed elevated values compared with the very low readings recorded in previous months, but the figures remained below the reference levels required for water of excellent quality.
Sand tests also reassuring
Loupasaki said DEYAX consulted international scientific reference points, including guidance from the World Health Organization, to assess sand samples from the affected areas. Samples analyzed at the DEYAX laboratory returned values of 0 and 1, compared with reference thresholds of 25 for E. coli and 60 for enterococci. The Technical University of Crete’s Laboratory of Environmental Technology and Management is also conducting parallel measurements, with results so far consistent with DEYAX’s findings of very low microbial contamination.
Mayor thanks staff and local businesses
Simandirakis said the water is “clean, safe and of excellent quality” and that the sand test results were equally reassuring. He acknowledged the concern raised in previous days and said residents needed the full picture: the August 12 readings were indeed higher than the very low values recorded before the malfunction, but stayed under the threshold for excellent-quality water.
He added that the municipality did not rely on water tests alone, but also examined the sand at affected points, sought international scientific data, and is cooperating with the Technical University of Crete for a fuller picture. Simandirakis thanked DEYAX staff and management for their work repairing the malfunction, as well as the Chania Municipality’s Cleaning Department, which he said cooperated continuously with the relevant services on the cleanup and restoration of the coastline. He also thanked business owners in Nea Chora, saying the municipality maintained steady communication with them throughout and that its support “does not end with the repair of the malfunction and the reinstatement of the Blue Flag.”
Also present at the reinstatement were Chania Deputy Mayors Michalis Tsoupakis, Giannis Nikiforakis, Alexandros Kontorinakis and Nektarios Psaroudakis; Chania Municipal Council President Manolis Karagiannakis; Chania Municipal Port Fund President Manolis Kotsifakis; and the president and members of the Nea Chora Shopkeepers Association.
Blue Flag status is an international eco-label awarded to beaches that meet set standards for water quality, safety and environmental management, and readers can find more beaches in Crete that hold the certification.
