Nea Chora: main beach reopens from Sunday

Nine days after the rupture of the main sewage pipeline at Nea Chora in Chania, the swimming ban on the main beach is being lifted from Sunday, on the basis of the results of new measurements in the sea water. According to a report in the newspaper Nea Kriti, the ban nevertheless remains in force in a zone of two hundred metres around the mouth of the Kladisos, where stagnant contaminated water is still causing a bad smell. Samples are being taken daily by the Public Health Directorate of the Regional Unit of Chania and by the Chania Municipal Water Supply and Sewerage Company, so that the course of the microbial load can be monitored. The Municipality of Chania states that the sewerage network has returned to full operation and that cooperation with the Regional Unit is continuing.

The president of the municipal water company, Niki Apostolaki, said that work to unblock the network is continuing, since on Papamalekou and Koustogerakou streets pipes blocked by wet wipes were again found. This phenomenon is one of the most frequent causes of faults in wastewater networks, because such materials do not dissolve in water and accumulate at bends and joints, creating a complete blockage. In the case of Nea Chora, the increased pressure caused by the blockage is one of the factors being examined in relation to the rupture of the pipeline. The daily measurements cover different points along the shore, since water quality changes depending on currents and wind.

In the area, which has a large number of catering businesses, professionals speak of a blow to the image of Nea Chora rather than a public health issue, citing the currents that cleaned the sea. The Nea Chora Improvement Association is calling for strict health protocols to be applied, with washing of the streets, checks on the drinking water network, cleaning of the sand by mechanical sifting and microbiological analyses of the sand. For their part, ANTARSYA Chania and Laiki Syspeirosi question whether the fall in the microbial load means a complete clean-up and are calling for the detailed results to be made public by day and by sampling point.

The next critical factor is the course of the measurements at the mouth of the Kladisos, where the ban remains. The river acts as a receptor for the run-off of a wider basin and in summer has limited flow, which slows the natural cleaning process. No timetable has been announced for lifting the ban on that particular stretch, nor whether the additional works requested by the Improvement Association will be carried out. The case had begun with the bad smell from sewage in the Kladisos and had earlier led to a partial lifting of the swimming ban. The authorities have not announced any findings on the causes of the original fault.

Update 20:30: The Chania Deputy Regional Authority issued on Wednesday 19 August a revocation of the decision declaring the beach unfit for swimming, now permitting swimming along the whole shore of Nea Chora and on both sides of the Kladisos river, that is including the stretch that had remained excluded. The announcement states that following the on-site health inspection of 17-08-2026 by the Directorate of Public Health and Social Care and the results of the laboratory analyses, a revocation was issued of decision no. 288718/11-08-2026 declaring the beach unfit, as amended by decision no. 293098/16-08-2026, since the restoration of bathing water quality had been established. This development goes beyond the gradual lifting announced earlier and abolishes the ban zone at the river mouth. What remains open is the point raised by the municipal group “Antarsia”, which is calling for a full clean-up of the sand and publication of the analyses.