Come on in, the water (will be) lovely: Maddy Fletcher reports on operation clean-up to make the Seine swimmable for the OIympics
- Writer Maddy Fletcher shares the update on Paris’s Seine’s clean-up initiative
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When Paris hosted the Olympics in 1900, seven events were held in the river Seine.
For most locals today, that sounds mad: since 1923, swimming in the capital’s waterway has been banned due to sewage.
But, 100 years later, and with a budget of €1.4 billion, the French are in the midst of a big clean-up before the 2024 games.
The plan is to hold the marathon swimming race and the triathlon’s 1,500-metre swim in the Seine.
There are also rumours the opening ceremony will take place on the river.
When Paris hosted the Olympics in 1900, seven events were held in the river Seine. For most locals today, that sounds mad: since 1923, swimming in the capital’s waterway has been banned due to sewage. Stock image used
To make it work, scientists have added cleaning chemicals to the water, built thousands of tanks and pipes to contain and redirect sewage and are asking locals to dig up any dodgy pipes and reconnect them properly to the sewer system.
Last summer, tests showed the water was clean enough to swim in 92 per cent of the time. Cossies at the ready…
RIVER SEINE: THE L’EAU-DOWN
- The Seine only flows through Paris for 13km but it’s 777km long in total. That’s much longer than Britain’s longest river, the Severn (a measly 354km), or the Thames (an even measlier 346km).
- The river starts near Dijon in eastern France and ends in the English Channel at Le Havre.
- It contains around two billion litres of water.
- There are 37 bridges across the Seine in Paris. The oldest, Pont Neuf, was built between 1578 and 1607.
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