The Seine's water quality was a major issue for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Yet, France has kept its promise to "make the Seine swimmable for the Paris Olympics" in its bid to host the Games, keeping the bacteria level within acceptable limits.
PARIS, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- On July 31, Olympic triathletes dived into the Seine, marking the river's reopening to swimmers after a century's ban due to pollution. The improved quality of the Seine's water could be seen as a special Paris Olympic legacy for the future.
The Seine's water quality was a major issue for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Yet, France has kept its promise to "make the Seine swimmable for the Paris Olympics" in its bid to host the Games, keeping the bacteria level within acceptable limits.
"Today, the Seine is swimmable, and that's a real victory," David Lappartient, president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, told the French media on Monday, during the mixed triathlon relay event.
Thanks to the major urban renovation led by Baron Haussmann, the then prefect of the Seine appointed by Napoleon III, Paris saw the construction of a gigantic sewer system in the mid-19th century. Large sewer tunnels were built under the street, improving Paris' sanitation and water supply.
According to the French Swimming Federation, when Paris hosted its first Olympic Games in 1900, the swimming events took place in the Seine where Parisians could bathe.
However, swimming has been banned in this river since 1923 due to the serious pollution caused by the rapid development of industry and population growth in Paris in the early 20th century. This ban remained for 100 years.
Efforts to improve the Seine's water quality never ceased. The French government and local authorities have invested more than 1.4 billion euros (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars) for purification since 2015, aiming to host open-water events during the Olympic and Paralympic, as well as to allow the public to swim in the Seine at three bathing sites from 2025, Paris City Hall said in a statement.
The Austerlitz rainwater storage basin, with a capacity of around 50,000 cubic meters, was commissioned in late May to store wastewater and rainwater during heavy rainfall. The collected water will be transferred to a treatment plant and poured into the Seine after meeting the required health criteria.
Ultraviolet systems were installed at two sewage treatment plants near the Seine. A monitoring group was established to detect and locate potential pollution. An Olympic law was adopted to forbid the moored boats from flushing directly into the river.
In July, before the opening of the Olympic Games, French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and President of Paris 2024 Tony Estanguet took a plunge into the Seine. This proved that the river's water quality was good enough to host the Olympic swimming events.
After the triathlon events on July 31, Paris 2024 spokeswoman Anne Descamps told the press that the Seine water samples examined that morning met World Triathlon's standards for a safe competition.
Still, the water quality of the Seine is not perfect, and continues to be degraded by rainy weather. World Triathlon recently announced that the men's triathlon event scheduled for July 30 had been postponed to July 31, as rainfall on July 26 and 27 had "altered water quality," causing untreated water to overflow into the river.
For Paris City Hall, efforts to clean up the Seine need to be stepped up to meet its commitment.
French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the July 31 success of triathletes swimming in the Seine. "Thanks to a massive investment by the State, with Paris and Val-de-Marne, we have succeeded in four years in doing the impossible for 100 years: the Seine is swimmable," he said on the social network X, formerly Twitter.
According to Macron, Parisians now have a river that has "changed its face and its use." And bathing in the Seine will be "an important legacy" of the Olympic Games.
