Swimming water helps you to recreate safely

The weather is lovely, but with those high temperatures you sometimes want to take a refreshing dip. Enough places in the Netherlands where that is possible, but freshwater adventures are not always safe. Sometimes the water quality is not good. The App of the Week, Swimming Water, helps you make a healthy, good choice.

bathing water

You can of course go to the sea, but often recreational waters are just a little closer. You can quickly cycle there (or take a short car ride) to read a book in the sun and if it gets too hot (or too sweaty) to go into the water. With the Swimming Water app you can see which water is best for you. The water boards keep track of the status of a certain water. For example, the water can be of poor quality, so that swimming is not recommended, but it can also be fine and you are invited to come and paddle.

You can expect a lot from swimming, but not from the app. It is clearly made to be functional and not necessarily beautiful. When you open the app, you see two young girls who jump into the water and are beheaded by a block containing the logos of the Interprovincial Consultation, the Union of Water Board and the Ministry of Public Works. At the bottom you see four choices: the bathing water card, search, swim safely and make a *^#(# (there is actually a message here, but that is off the button).

Recreation area

Then tap on the bathing water map (which is suddenly spelled correctly at the top) and you will see a map of the Netherlands with all kinds of icons. Zoom in on your location (or your destination). Then you see specifically the lake or water where you want to swim and there is probably an icon next to it (if there are several below each other, you have to zoom a little deeper). Tap it and you will see what the recreation area is called. Tap it again and you will see how the quality of the bathing water is.

In addition, there is more useful information to see. For example, it says when the last sample was taken, when the next one is and there is some text about the relevant water. Also look closely at the icons that are there. This way you can find out whether you can park there, what type of water it is, whether there is a playing field and whether you can find a catering facility for a refreshing orange or ice cream. It is even possible to share the area with someone or set the route to the area.

Lots of information in one place

The app may not be too beautiful, but it works like a train. The multitude of information, which is nevertheless presented in a simple and effective manner, is impressive. It feels complete. If you don’t want to zoom all the way on that map, you can also choose ‘search’. Under ‘safe swimming’ you can see some advice from the government about the risks of swimming. If you have arrived at a location and the information turns out to be incorrect, you can also make a report by calling the bathing water telephone. The numbers (per province) are listed under ‘make a report’.

If you are more of a saltwater rat, you can also find information about the various sea beaches that we have in the Netherlands. There it is perhaps even more important to enter the water well prepared: jellyfish, currents and, for example, ebb and flow can significantly influence sea swimming. Summer isn’t over yet, so don’t fill that pool in your garden and go to a recreational lake. But, one that is approved by the Swimming Water app.

App of the Week

You will find a every Monday on Androidworld Best apps of the week and every Saturday we discuss an app in our section App of the week. If you are looking for fun apps, then you have come to the right place at Androidworld. Search our large database of apps using the links below.

Do you like to go swimming in a recreational lake in the summer? Have you already used this app? Leave your experiences in the comments to this article.