Since 2006, Rip Curl has supported Surfrider Europe in their water quality campaign on the Basque coast, in association with the Basque Surfing Federation. Water is currently sampled by a dozen surf clubs and analysed in a lab for biological contamination.
European regulations only require official water quality monitoring from coastal towns in high summer season and in bathing areas. Surfers, of course, enjoy the ocean year-round and aren't limited to the beaches they share with swimmers. So, unlike high summer tourist crowds, they don't have the same access to information about contaminated water and the potential health risks.
Since the 1990s Surfrider Europe have been giving Black Flags to towns with poor water quality records. The organisation then went on to set up its own water quality monitoring, testing water samples on a regular basis (2 to 4 times a month), and publishing results on its website. This has helped put pressure on coastal towns to tackle their local pollution issues.
