For exactly 100 years, it has been forbidden to swim in the Seine. The river is too dirty, with high levels of bacteria and pollution. However, water quality has gradually improved in recent decades.
Already in 1990, the then mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, promised that within three years he would swim in the Seine to show that the river had become clean. That promise was never fulfilled.
More fish in the water
But thanks to better treatment systems and waste water management, the quality has continued to improve since then. And with the 2024 Paris Olympics in sight, efforts have been stepped up even further. Together with the city of Paris and its surrounding municipalities, the French state is now investing 1.4 billion euros (approximately SEK 16 billion) in making the river swimmable by next summer.
— The quality of the Seine is undoubtedly much better now than it was 30 years ago, says Thomas Thiebault, researcher at the École Praqtique des Hautes Études, part of the Sorbonne University, to Le Figaro.
One proof that the river has become cleaner is that the fish have become more numerous. Today there are 36 species of fish in the Seine, in the 70s there were only three.
The map shows the places where it will be possible to swim in central Paris in 2025. 20 bathing spots
But it is not the number of fish species that determines whether the water is swimmable or not. It is the presence of coli bacteria and intestinal enterococci.
“The content of these two types of bacteria gives an indication of the total number of bacteria in the water,” says Thiebault.
The largest investments involve strengthening the disinfection systems at two treatment plants and a gigantic construction of a storage basin for rainwater. At the same time, the planning of the bathing areas along the Seine quays is underway. The city of Paris has announced three locations that will open to the public as early as next summer.
— In a city like Paris with periods of oppressive heat, it is important to have places where you can cool off, says Colombe Brossel, deputy mayor, to Le Figaro.
By 2030, there will be around 20 bathing spots along the river.
For now, Parisians have to make do with water dispensers to cool off during heat waves. Picture from a hot summer day last year.