Wastewater Visibility News
Wastewater Clean Up: Getting Olympians into the Seine
August 1, 2024
Wastewater Visibility News
After nearly a decade of stormwater and wastewater clean up, heavy rains almost keep Olympic triathletes out of the Seine.
More than 100 triathletes took the plunge on Wednesday, July 31, diving into the long-polluted Seine River for the swimming portion of the 2024 Olympic triathlon competition. Female competitors were first off, and roughly three hours later, male competitors followed suit after two previous delays.
The commitment to hold the competition in the Seine came down to a “game-time decision” by Paris officials, who have worked toward this goal for the 2024 Paris Olympics since 2015. Despite nine years of efforts to ensure the Seine would be the site for the Olympic games, heavy rains over the weekend threatened efforts, resulting in water tests revealing higher-than-acceptable levels of E. coli, enterococci, and other bacteria and viruses. By twenty-four hours out, test results had dropped to safe levels in time for the triathletes to compete.
Pending future water quality test results, the Seine will also be the site of the Women’s and the Men’s 10km Olympic Marathon Swimming competitions on August 8 and 9, respectively.
“We swim in a lot of city locations, and it’s common for water quality to be a question. But I just have to trust that the race organizers are doing the testing and what they need to do to make sure it’s safe.”
Kirsten Kasper, American Triathlete, source: NBC News
Swimming in the Seine River: Banned for More than a Century
Paris hosted the 1900 Olympics, and Olympians competed in the waters of the Seine at that time. But in 1923, swimming was banned in the river because of its unsafe water quality and concerns for swimmers resulting from the rivers’ increasing boat traffic. At times over the years, the river has been temporarily deemed sufficiently safe for hosting other swimming events and competitions, including the 2011 Paris Triathlon.
In 2015, with the knowledge that the city would host the Olympics, Parisian officials launched a $1.5 billion effort to improve the Seine’s water quality. As part of the efforts, the city built a giant underground water storage basin to collect excess rainwater and stop wastewater overflow from entering the Seine.
On July 17, 2024, before the increase in bacterial levels resulting from this past week’s heavy rainfall, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, swam in the Seine at a public event to demonstrate the City’s confidence in the water quality.
Wastewater Infrastructure and Wastewater Clean Up: The Unseen Crisis
The wastewater problem in Paris is not unique. Aging wastewater and stormwater systems are prone to leaks and breaches and are simply inadequate to serve the needs of growing populations in cities worldwide.
In older cities, such as Paris, wastewater infrastructure is a combined sewer system in which both wastewater and stormwater flow through the same pipes. Prolonged or heavy rain results in overloaded pipes, and the combined wastewater and stormwater flow into the rivers rather than into the city’s treatment plants.
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