President Macron has promised to swim in the river Seine himself to show that swimming in the Seine is no longer harmful to health. The sports minister and the mayor of Paris as well.
But it seems we will have to wait to see the politicians in bathing suits.
And until the very end, it is unclear whether the Olympic swimming competitions will really be able to be held as planned.
For a hundred years it has been forbidden to bathe in the river Seine in Paris. The water has been too polluted. But in the run-up to the Olympic Games, France has bet everything that the marathon swimming and triathlon will be able to be completed under the bridges of Paris.
Bet 1.4 billion
1.4 billion has been invested in cleaning the river. 20,000 individual drains and all the riverboats at the quays that previously discharged their dirty water directly into the river have been connected to the treatment plants.
But the results have been slow to come. Last summer’s test swims had to be canceled and samples taken during the winter have often shown too high levels of two bacteria found in human feces, e-coli and enterococci. The levels have exceeded the limit that applies to bathing water within the EU.
Blame it on rain
The politicians have blamed it on the fact that it has rained so much during the winter that the sewage system is overloaded and sewage follows it into the river.
To prevent that from happening, a giant water reservoir has been built in Austerlitz. In heavy downpours, it can store water equivalent to 100 Olympic swimming pools.
The facility was only inaugurated in May, so it is not yet known whether the system will work. But Sports Minister Ame’lie Oude’a Castera is full of confidence:
– We trust that the infrastructure we have built will be able to prevent the sewage network from being overloaded. We are monitoring developments but expect the sun this summer to be helpful. I am not worried, we have promised that the swims will take place in the Seine and trust that it will go well.
No plan B
If it turns out that the minister is wrong, there is no plan B. No preparations have been made to move the competitions elsewhere.
If the water is not approved, it may be enough to move the competition forward a few days. But in the worst case, the Olympic swimmers may go home from Paris without medals in triathlon and marathon swimming. And the president doesn’t have to bathe in public.