They say the Seine River was not in a sanitary condition when the mayor of Paris got in

The water in the Seine River in Paris did not meet sanitary conditions on July 17 when the mayor, Anne Hidalgo, bathed. precisely to demonstrate that it was suitable for holding various events at the Olympic Games.

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The France Info broadcaster pointed out this contradiction on Friday, July 26, 2024, after the results of the water samples taken daily to monitor the levels of the two types of bacteria (Escherichia coli and enterococci) used to assess whether the conditions are met were made public.

The day Anne Hidalgo took the long-awaited dip, alongside the head of the Paris 2024 Games Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguet, and the prefect (government delegate) in the Ile de France region, in front of dozens of journalists and cameras, the thresholds set by health authorities were exceeded.

Specifically, at the point where they entered the water, the concentration of E. coli bacteria was 985 CFU (units) per 100 millilitres when the limit set by the Regional Health Authority in 2023 was 900. In another section of the river, as it passes through Bercy, it reached 1,017 CFU per 100 millilitres.

The indicators have improved in recent weeks, since in June the levels that had been measured were much higher because the river flow was noticeably higher due to the rains that had fallen upstream in late spring.

The Mayor’s swim, which had been delayed for several weeks precisely because of the poor water conditions, was an important image to clear up the doubts that have persisted since the organizers of the Paris Games decided that some of the tests would be carried out in the Seine.

What sports will be played on the River Seine during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?

Specifically, the triathlon swimming event is scheduled there, on July 30 for men, on July 31 for women and on August 5 for the mixed relay, as well as the women’s and men’s open water marathons on August 31 and 5, as part of the Paris 2024 strategy to make the capital’s most emblematic sites the protagonists of the Olympic Games.

Since 2016, French authorities have invested 1.4 billion euros in an ambitious plan to improve water quality and make it possible, from the summer of 2025, to swim in the stretch of river that runs through Paris, something that has not been possible for a century.

This has included channelling many drains to pass through treatment plants instead of directly into the river, as well as building giant reservoirs.

These tanks are used to divert part of the rainwater when it rains hard so that it does not go into the sewers, Because if the level of these rises too much, the spillways end up diverting part of the flow into the river and thus contaminating it.

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