A French water charity is sounding the alarm over pollution of the Seine River, which is set to be the backdrop for the Olympic Games‘ opening ceremonies and used by athletes as an open-water swimming venue. Paris authorities are racing to clean up the famed waterway before the Games kick off on July 26.
In an open letter, the Surfrider Foundation said it performed tests on the river in the last six months and found “alarming” levels of bacteria — including E. coli and enterococci, which are both known to come from human fecal matter and pose dangers to swimmers.
“It is therefore clear that the athletes who will be taking part in the Olympic and Paralympic events planned for the Seine will be swimming in polluted water and taking significant risks to their health,” the foundation stated in a news release.
Officials from the Île-de-France precinct have responded to the foundation’s findings, calling them “flawed.” They argue that the samples were collected between September 2023 and March of this year, a period during which officials were not actively treating the water during the winter.
French officials have spent more than a billion dollars in the last decade working to improve the quality of the river.
Currently, rainwater and wastewater get funneled through Paris’ sewer system and both get released into the Seine River.
Authorities promised to clean up the water before the Olympics and they are set to spend another $1.5 billion dollars on a plan to make good on that promise. The new plan includes a new stormwater facility along with new sewage connections for boats along the river.
France President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo have both said they will take a dip in the Seine before the Olympics.
City officials are also hopeful the Seine River water will be used for public bathing by 2025.
