Published this Friday by the town hall and the regional prefecture, the analysis reports on the quality of the Seine are still not at the expected level. With less than a month before the Games, concern is growing.
Should we start worrying? With the Paris Olympics (July 26 – August 11) opening in less than a month now, the quality of the Seine is still being questioned. And for good reason, the analysis reports on the quality of the river, published this Friday by the town hall and the prefecture of the region, are still not favorable. Covering the week of June 17 to 23, these analyses showed concentrations of fecal bacteria that were sharply higher than in the previous two weeks.
This can be explained in particular by the weather in recent weeks. Despite drier and sunny weather in Ile-de-France, the precipitation of recent weeks has had serious consequences, causing such analysis results. And this reinforces the doubts about the good holding of the open water events as well as the opening ceremony of the Games.
“Unfavorable hydrological context”
Concretely, what is needed for the tests to be maintained? The content of Escherichia coli and enterococci must not exceed 1,000 and 400 colony forming units (CFU)/100 ml respectively for the tests to be authorized. Far from current levels. During the first half of June, E.Coli concentrations were generally between 1,000 and 5,000 CFU/100 ml. But these quickly sailed between 2,000 and 10,000 – with a peak at 13,000 – at the start of the third week, between 2,000 and 6,000 at the end of the week.
As for enterococci, with values generally between 100 and 500 CFU/100 ml in the first half of June, they rose several days above the 1,000 or even 2,000 mark. “Water quality remains degraded due to an unfavorable hydrological context: rain, high flow, little sunshine, temperatures below seasonal standards and pollution from upstream,” summarize the town hall and the prefecture. “We expect things to improve this week given the weather,” commented the regional prefecture to AFP.
On the Seine, whatever happens
Not enough to reassure the organizers, especially since the prefect Marc Guillaume warned last Wednesday that the Seine would not be swimmable at the beginning of July. But the countdown has well and truly begun for Paris 2024. And the organization has a schedule to respect. After the opening ceremony, the river must host the triathlon events (July 30 and 31, August 5), swimming-marathon (August 8 and 9) and paratriathlon (September 1 and 2).
However, the town hall had assured that it had put in place the means to be able to obtain a swimmable Seine for the Olympics and open to the public in 2025, in particular with retention works inaugurated with the Games. Moreover, according to the prefecture and town hall, the Austerlitz basin, inaugurated at the beginning of May, operated for the first time with the rains of June 17 and 18.
Faced with the uncertainty, the organizers nevertheless assure that the events would be postponed for a few days if the results were not favorable to their holding. There is no question for them of changing venue. Paris 2024 wants its Seine.
