Lake Ohrid is safe for swimming, say the people at the Institute of Public Health. At the same time, sewage and wastewater from hotels, restaurants, homes and entire villages flow into that same lake. Both claims are true. And that is precisely the problem.

The IPH report on water quality for 2026 identified a series of pollution sources along the shoreline, from Sveti Naum to Radozhda. Hotels and catering facilities, private houses between Saraishte beach and the church of Sveta Sofia, and rural settlements such as Trpejca, Ljubanishta and Radozhda use septic tanks that empty directly into the lake or in its immediate vicinity.

The most telling case is Sveti Naum. The treatment plant there, built in 2013, has only a grinder for the sewage, but no filters and no chlorination of the wastewater before it is discharged into the lake. In other words - the sewage is ground up, but not treated. That is not purification, it is direct pollution with an extra step.

The collector system that gathers the wastewater from Ohrid and Struga to the treatment plant in Vranishta exists, but many facilities are not connected to it at all. On the stretch from Struga to Radozhda, for instance, only one hotel is linked to the system. The rest goes wherever it is easiest - into the water.

The results of laboratory analyses from May and June 2026 showed that the water at most measuring points is first class and safe for swimming, with the exception of Grashnica beach, rated third class due to the discharge of stormwater. So, for now, swim in peace. But „for now” is the key phrase.

The IPH recommends urgently completing a functional collector system, separating the sewage from the stormwater and ensuring the uninterrupted operation of the pumping stations to prevent breakdowns during heavy rain. Recommendations that have been repeated for years. The lake is our greatest natural resource and a protected world heritage site - and we are still arguing over whether to connect the houses to the sewers. How long can the beauty keep covering the filth below the surface?