The green flag was hoisted again this morning at Praia do Barranco das Canas, better known as Praia do Alemão, in Portimão, after analyzes of the water collected yesterday revealed values of the bacteria Escherichia coli, aka E.Coli, within legal limits.
Contacted by Sul Informação, a source from the Algarve Regional Health Administration confirmed the lifting of the ban. As for the causes of pollution spot detected yesterday, are not known, but everything indicates that they must be linked to a punctual discharge of sewage, probably from a vessel.
This Tuesday, the red flag was hoisted at Praia do Alemão and bathing was prohibited after the Portuguese Environment Agency detected the presence of fecal coliforms in a sample collected in the bathing area, on Monday.
The presence of the E.Coli bacteria in Praia do Alemão «is not normal», according to Commander Santos Arrabaça, captain of the Port of Portimão, assured our newspaper yesterday.
The only times this happened was after heavy rains, due to runoff from the streams. However, the Municipality of Portimão, after monitoring the sewers and water lines in the area, came to the conclusion that there was no discharge.
Thus, Santos Arrabaça considered that the most likely was that it was something punctual, predicting that the ban would be lifted soon, which ended up happening.
This is the second time in about two weeks that a bathing area in the Algarve is banned from bathing, due to the presence of E.Coli. TO 1August 3, the APA and the Regional Health Delegate had the red flag hoisted in Praia de Faro, for the same reasons, prohibition that was raised the next day.
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