Olympic Games: A gold for the Seine, which meets European cleanliness standards

Olympic swimming and triathlon events can now take place in the Seine, which now meets European bathing water standards, an NGO controlling water quality confirmed, following massive cleaning efforts by the French authorities and a spell of dry weather.

It has been a long-awaited promise to make the Seine clean enough to host the aquatic events of the Olympics (26 July to 11 August) and the Paralympic Games (28 August to 8 September).

To achieve this, the river had to meet European standards laid down in the Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC) on the quality of water.

The mission appears to have succeeded since the Minister for Sport Amélie Oudéa-Castera and the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo dived into the river a few days ago to prove that its water was safe for athletes.

“The results are good. According to samples taken on 4 and 15 July, the quality of the Seine complies with the bathing directive”, Lionel Cheylus, spokesman for the Surfrider Fondation, an NGO which has been taking samples at the Pont de l’Alma and Pont Alexandre III since September, confirmed to Euractiv.

High bacteria levels in April

The situation was touch-and-go in April, when the Surfrider Foundation issued an open letter warning of the presence of high levels of bacteria, expressing its concern for the athletes’ health.

Out of 14 samples taken, 13 revealed the presence of faecal bacteria, E.coli and enterococci, which can cause conjunctivitis, dermatitis, gastro-enteritis and severe diarrhoea.

The main culprits are rainwater that can overflow from sewage systems but also the discharge of domestic wastewater into the river, the treatment of which has necessitated major sanitation works.

The full cost of cleaning the Seine is  €1.4 billion, half of which will have been financed by the French government, with the remainder coming from local and regional authorities.

This is a victory for the swimming and triathlon events scheduled for July 30 and 31, for which the lights are now “green”, the NGO said.

Criticised for the staggering cost of the operation, Paris City Hall points out that cleaning up the Seine is part of a wider plan to make the river more widely accessible to the general public by the summer of 2025.

Rain, the enemy

The only fly in the ointment is that the quality of the Seine’s water remains subject to the weather, a variable that is difficult to predict or control. “Rain is our biggest enemy,” confirmed Cheylus.

Heavy rain before the aquatic events could once again pollute the river, making it unsuitable for swimming. “In that case, we’d have to postpone the events for a few days, just long enough for the water quality to return to normal,” said Cheylus.

Another option is to use the nautical stadium at Vaires-sur-Marne (77), some 50 km from Paris.

The rainy spring also delayed the clean-up of the river. “If today the Seine’s water quality results are much better, it’s not 100% thanks to the mayor’s work, but also thanks to the sunny weather,” the NGO’s spokesperson pointed out.

With just a few days before the opening ceremony, which will also take place on the Seine on Friday (26 July), the competition organisers are no doubt already keeping an eye on the skies.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]

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