Bathing waters across Tayside and Fife all passed a nationwide pollution test despite it being one of the wettest summers on record.
The study from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) showed that 81 of Scotland’s 83 official waters achieved the mandatory pass rating over a 20-week inspection from the end of May to the start of September.
In Fife, Aberdour harbour failed just one week, while the village’s Silver Sands passed every inspection.
Roome Bay beach in Crail passed at the highest standard every week, with nearby Elie harbour and Earlsferry failing just one testing session in June.
Kirkcaldy passed every inspection and Leven failed just one week due to pollution caused by heavy rainfall.
The West Sands at St Andrews scored the top grade for 13 weeks and the mandatory pass grade for the other seven, while waters at Tentsmuir achieved top rating each of the seven times it was visited.
Broughty Ferry beach again achieved the top guideline testing level, as did Monifieth and Carnoustie, where there was an improvement from last year’s mandatory pass level. The rest of Angus also fared well. Arbroath, Lunan Bay and Montrose all passed their inspections.
Stonehaven was one of only two beaches in Scotland to fail the EU Bathing Waters Directive test over the entire summer season. The other was the Heads of Ayr in South Ayrshire.
The Mearns beach failed inspections on June 26 and 28 and on July 2, followed by a fourth failure on August 16.
Heavy rainfall coincided with a ”pollution incident” on the Maxie Burn which flows into the Cowie Water, and investigations by Sepa staff found high numbers of bacteria.
Sepa updated the electronic signs advising bathers that water quality was poor and monitored the area while measures were put in place to controlthe pollution.
Sepa environmental quality manager Calum McPhail said: ”In terms of monitoring bathing water, and providing information to the public, Scotland is already leading the way and this data will help establish new classifications at the end of the 2015 season.”