Overview
- Flussbad Berlin launched a public water‑quality forecast and a flag at the Spreekanal that shows green, gray, or red, with updates posted online and at the riverbank.
- The tool, built with Kompetenzzentrum Wasser Berlin, uses lab‑checked readings and thresholds around 900 and 1,800 colony‑forming units per 100 ml to mark swim or no‑swim days.
- The group scheduled monthly “Mitschwimm” protests on the 20th from May through the 20 September election, with the first set for 20 May.
- Swimming in the inner‑city Spree remains illegal under Berlin’s 1998 bathing rule, and a December health review warns that rare sewer overflows after heavy rain spike pathogen levels for several days.
- Flussbad Berlin urges a pilot bathing spot and says most summer days test as suitable, while the Greens, the Left, and the SPD back allowing river swims and critics point to ship‑traffic safety risks.