Bathing water monitoring: artificial intelligence to anticipate preventive closures of two beaches in Royan

Since 2022, the City of Royan has partnered with an innovative startup to use artificial intelligence to monitor bathing water quality. This project focuses on two beaches, Pontaillac and Foncillon, which are particularly popular with tourists. Every summer, bathing water quality becomes a major issue, especially after heavy rains that can introduce fecal bacteria such as E. coli and enterococcus. To anticipate these risks, Royan has adopted a predictive model that, by analyzing environmental and sanitation data, can predict preventative beach closures two days in advance. This tool, called InfoBaignade, represents a significant step forward in environmental protection and bather safety. The City of Royan is innovating with the introduction of a predictive model based on artificial intelligence to monitor the condition of bathing water. Thanks to this advanced tool, a first in France, the beaches of Pontaillac and Foncillon can predict and anticipate the risk of closures due to pollution. This model, developed in partnership with a Quebec startup, is able to anticipate variations in water quality up to two days in advance, helping to protect swimmers and effectively manage swimming areas. A pioneering initiative in Royan Since 2022, the City of Royan has been collaborating with the Quebec startup CannForecast to benefit from their predictive model for bathing water quality. This initiative primarily concerns the beaches of Pontaillac and Foncillon, but could eventually be extended to other beaches.The model in question, called InfoBaignade , uses data such as tidal coefficients, weather forecasts, and potential incidents in the sewerage system to anticipate swimming bans. To date, Royan is the first French city to deploy this technology. The methodology behind InfoBaignade

InfoBaignade’s operation is based on the analysis of multiple environmental parameters. The model is powered by meteorological data and information on precipitation volumes from installed rain gauges. It also relies on water quality analysis results provided by the City of Royan and the Regional Health Agency since 2009. Every day, before 7 a.m., a prediction is sent by email to the environmental department. These predictions, crucial for the busiest swimming times, allow authorities to react quickly if preventive beach closures are necessary. The Impact of Weather and Environmental Conditions Royan’s predictive model highlights the importance of weather conditions on bathing water quality. During heavy rainfall, water quality can deteriorate rapidly due to street washout and potential failures in the sewer system. These situations can lead to pollution by bacteria such as E. coli and Enterococcus, forcing authorities to sporadically close beaches.

Promising Results and Constantly Improving Accuracy

In Pontaillac, where the system has been deployed for the longest time, the model achieved 100% accuracy for E. coli detection and 92% for Enterococcus in 2024, demonstrating the effectiveness and increasing reliability of InfoBaignade. These results show that the tool is becoming increasingly accurate over time.

Julien Duressay, Royan city councilor responsible for beaches, emphasizes that artificial intelligence does not replace human measurements, but rather effectively complements them. On-site measurements remain essential to confirm the reopening of beaches, thus ensuring the safety of swimmers.

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