Seine fit for swimming six of seven days tested before Olympics / Photo: © AFP
Seine fit for swimming six of seven days tested before Olympics
The River Seine has been clean enough to swim in for six of seven days tested ahead of the Olympic Games which get underway in a week, Paris city hall said on Friday.
The quality of the water met the required standards between July 10-16, two weeks before the open water events organised during the Olympics.
Weather permitting, the river will be the star of the opening ceremony of the Games on July 26 and will then host the triathlon and the swimming marathon.
Despite improving water quality results since the end of June, suspense remains over whether these competitions can go ahead on the river through the French capital.
Although the river's E.Coli bacterial level was below the thresholds six days a week at the sampling point on the Alexandre-III bridge, results from three other Parisian sites are much more mixed.
"This week was marked by two significant episodes of rain, particularly upstream of Paris, which had an impact on water quality and flow," regional authorities said.
In the event of heavy rain, untreated sewage can be washed into the river.
A downpour on July 9 "impacted the water quality of the Seine", as did storms and rain overnight July 11 to 12.
But in both cases, the water quality quickly recovered, in two or three days.
On Wednesday, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo kept her promise and bathed in the Seine along with Paris-2024 chief organiser Tony Estanguet.
A positive note for organisers is that the flow of the Seine, still unseasonally high which unfavourably impacts water quality, continues to decrease thanks to dry weather.
If the quality is below standards a 'Plan B' involves postponing the events for a few days or moving the marathon swimming to Vaires-sur-Marne, on the Marne river east of Paris.
M.L.Blanco--ESF
