Copenhagen Harbour Baths (Danish

Danish language

Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...

: Københavns Havnebade) is a system of recreation

Recreation

Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...

al bathing facilities along the waterfront of Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

. There are currently three harbour baths, the first and most well-known of which is located at Islands Brygge

Islands Brygge

Islands Brygge is a harbourfront area in central Copenhagen, Denmark, located on the north-western coast of Amager. The neighbourhood is noted for its waterfront park Havneparken, which is one of the most popular areas along the Copenhagen harbourfront and the location of one of the Copenhagen...

. A fourth venue at Sluseholmen

Sluseholmen

Sluseholmen is a peninsula in the South Harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Southern Docklands of the Port of Copenhagen, the area used to house heavy industry, but since the turn of the millennium Sluseholmen has undergone massive redevelopment, transforming it into a mainly residential...

 in South Harbour

Kongens Enghave

Kongens Enghave , also known as Sydhavnen , is a district in southern Copenhagen. The area has historically been one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Copenhagen, dissected by major transport corridors and characterized by social problems as well as industry along the harbour-front.Since the turn...

 is set to open in 2011.

The harbour baths serve as a supplement to the beaches around the city, such as the extensive urban beach at Amager Strandpark

Amager Strandpark

Amager Strandpark is a seaside public park in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located on the island of Amager and includes an artificial island and offers a total of of beaches. Amager Strandpark is a Blue Flag beach and the adjacent Kastrup Marina as well as the nearby Dragør Marina also enjoy Blue...

. In 2010 the Royal Danish Theatre

Royal Danish Theatre

The Royal Danish Theatre is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first serving as the theatre of the king, and then as the theatre of the...

 also established the temporary artificial Ophelia Beach on the Kvæsthusbroen pier next to the Royal Playhouse

Royal Danish Playhouse

The Royal Danish Playhouse is a theatre building for the Royal Danish Theatre, situated on the harbour front in the Frederiksstaden neighbourhood of central Copenhagen, Denmark...

.

History

For the swimming season of 2002, the harbour bath at Islands Brygge opened as the first harbour bath in town. In 2003 the harbour bath was towed to the other side of the harbour and set up at Fisketorvet, while Islands Brygge got a new larger and permanent harbour bath designed by PLOT.

In 2010 the third harbour bath opened at the Svanemølle Bay after several delays and changes to the design.

Water quality

The water in the harbour today being as clean as that of Øresund

Oresund

The Sound , is the strait that separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania. Its width is just at the narrowest point between Helsingør, Denmark, and Helsingborg, Sweden...

, the harbour baths are a result of a consistent effort to improve the water quality in Copenhagen Harbour to an extent that allows for bathing to take place. The harbour baths are generally open all days of the week in the bathing season. In the event of unusually strong rains, sewage water

Sewage treatment

Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...

 may spill into the harbour and cause pollution with E. coli bacteria

Coliform bacteria

Coliform bacteria are a commonly used bacterial indicator of sanitary quality of foods and water. They are defined as rod-shaped Gram-negative non-spore forming bacteria which can ferment lactose with the production of acid and gas when incubated at 35-37°C...

, closing the harbour baths temporarily. Such a closure normally lasts for a couple of days until tidal flux has changed all the water. Water quality is being monitored and reported on a dedicated web site

Harbour Bath Islands Brygge

The harbour bath at Islands Brygge has a total of 5 pools and a capacity for 600 people. There are two pools dedicated to children, two 50 metre pools for swimming and a diving pool with three and five metre springboard

Springboard

A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i.e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type....

s.

Copencabana

Copencabana lies next to the Fisketorvet Shopping Centre and Havneholmen in Vesterbro. It is a 650 sqm complex with three pools and springboards of 1 metre, 2 metres and 3 metres.

Svanemølle Beach

The Svanemølle Beach

Svanemølle Beach

Svanemølle Beach is Denmark's newest beach. It was opened on June 20, 2010 in the Svanemølle Bay in Østerbro in Copenhagen...

 is located in the Svanemølle Bay in Østerbro

Østerbro

Østerbro is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located just north of the city centre, outside the old city gate Østerport which, after it was moved around 1700, used to be located close to present-day Østerport Station...

 and was inaugurated on 20 June 2010. It provides 4,000 sguare metres of beach with family-friendly low waters as well as a 130 metre long pier providing direct access to deeper waters.

See also

• Round Christiansborg Open Water Swim
• Islands Brygge
  Islands Brygge
  Islands Brygge is a harbourfront area in central Copenhagen, Denmark, located on the north-western coast of Amager. The neighbourhood is noted for its waterfront park Havneparken, which is one of the most popular areas along the Copenhagen harbourfront and the location of one of the Copenhagen...