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“Je chie dans la Seine le 23 Juin pour Macron et Nuñez et Hidalgo.”

Otherwise known as…“I shit in the Seine on June 23rd for Macron and Nuñez and Hidalgo.”

That is the declaration many Parisians made as they protested the blatant disregard for the health of those participating in the Olympic open-water events. Billions of euros have been spent in efforts to clean the Seine to host the Summer 2024 Olympics open-water swimming events in a more sustainable way. Parisian leaders hoped to avoid building expensive structures solely for the sake of the Olympics. Despite these efforts, the Seine River remains wholly polluted, to such a degree that exposing swimmers to the waters could mean a painful trip to the emergency room, courtesy of E. coli.

To prove the Seine River is clean enough for the open-water swimming events, Emmanuel Macron, Anne Hidalgo, and Laurent Nuñez pledged to swim in the river on June 23rd. However, this swim was pushed back to July 17th due to heavy rains stirring up E. coli. On that date, Anne Hidalgo and members of her cabinet swam in the Seine after tests confirming the water quality of the Seine meets healthy levels. Nevertheless, netizens remain unconvinced of the Seine’s cleanliness after centuries of pollution. The Seine River is a perfect example of how truly gross of an impact pollution can have on the environment and people.

History of the Seine River

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The Seine River is one of the most famous rivers in the world. This 485 mile (780 kilometers) long river stretches from just northwest of Dijon through Paris, ultimately emptying into the English Channel. The Seine River marks the creation of Paris itself, as Middle Age merchants set up a settlement that grew into the Paris of today. As Emmanuel Grégoire, deputy mayor of Paris, put it, “The Seine is the reason why Paris was born.”

The Seine River’s heavy pollution dates back to the 16th century, when countless bodies of those killed in the religious wars between Protestants and Catholics were dumped in the river. This trend of pollution continued with Parisians regularly dumping trash into the Seine River, including things like TV sets and motorcycles. Reportedly, 360 tons of large items are removed from the Seine River annually. However, the large amount of garbage that has accumulated over the years continues to pollute the Seine River.

By far the largest issue plaguing the Seine River’s pollution is the disposal of massive amounts of sewage into the river. Due to the implementation of a combined sewer system in the 1860s by Georges-Eugène Haussmann, the same network holds both stormwater runoff and sewage in Paris. This design has led to both domestic and industrial sewage being continually dumped into the river annually to prevent overloading the sewage network and flooding during heavy rains. In 2022 alone, 1.9 million cubic meters of untreated wastewater were dumped into the Seine. While this amount is extremely high, it does not compare to the 90% larger amount of wastewater dumped into the Seine River annually 20 years ago.

Due to heavy the pollution of the Seine, especially thanks to sewage, swimming in the Seine has been banned since 1923 by authorities. Efforts have been made to clean the Seine River since Jacques Chirac, former Paris mayor and French President, declared a major cleanup of the river in 1990. However, these efforts were largely unsuccessful until this $1.5 billion dollar cleaning effort in preparation for the Summer 2024 Olympics. This costly operation includes recruiting ingenious engineers to sort out Paris’ complicated underground network of pipes to implement a huge rainwater basin to collect rainwater runoff. This basin will hold rainwater until it can be slowly released into Paris’ sewage network and later treated at a plant before entering the Seine River as clean water.

Clean Enough?

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With the water quality of the Seine River being miraculously brought to safe levels after years of heavy pollution, skeptics remain doubtful about the cleanliness and safety of swimming in the Seine River. To be considered safe for competitions, the World Triathlon Federation stipulates that E. coli levels must be below 900 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters. While the Seine River tests clean and safe enough for competition on certain days, other days, particularly those following heavy rain, test unsafe. Despite past years having at least 3 week-long dry spells by the end of June, this year has shown more rain than usual. This raises concerns that the Seine River water will be pushed over safe limits of E. coli during the Olympics.

Despite the effort to clean a heavily polluted body of water, the concerns over the Seine’s cleanliness for the Summer 2024 Olympics highlight the harms brought on by pollution.

Recap

The Seine River has long historical ties to Paris and, consequently, to its pollution. Pollution that began in the 16th century has continued to plague the Seine River as dead bodies, sewage, and random large objects have been disposed in the river. Despite declarations to clean the Seine dating back to 1990, none have been successful until the recent $1.5 billion cleanup in preparation for the Summer 2024 Olympics. This initiative, that directs rainwater and overflowing sewage to a huge basin, has been somewhat successful.

The Seine River has been reportedly tested daily with some days showing safe levels of E. coli and others showing unsafe levels. The rise and fall of E. coli levels has been attributed to heavy rainfall. With Paris having uncharacteristically high rainfall this past year, concerns have been raised about whether the Seine River will be safe to swim in for all of the Summer 2024 Olympics. The mere concern over whether the Seine River will be safe is a testament to how harmful pollution has been on the world.

References

1. CBS News
2. Time
3. I Shit in the Seine on June 23rd
4. NPR