Cleaning Up the Seine: An Olympic Feat

Diving into the health risks present in urban waterways like the Seine, what it takes to clean them up, and how similar efforts have been made in Atlanta.

By Shelby Crosier

Swimming in the Seine River has been illegal for over a century, but some are hopeful that may change after the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in Paris.

The Seine will be the site of both the marathon swimming event and the swimming leg of the triathlon, as well as the location for the opening ceremony on July 26. With the first triathlon competition date looming on July 30, athletes, organizers, and spectators around the world are waiting to see if Paris’ efforts to clean up the river will succeed in time. Although Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo swam in the Seine on July 17 to showcase its improvements, some water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) experts remain skeptical.

According to Christine Moe, PhD, Eugene J. Gangarosa Professor of Safe Water and Sanitation and director of the Center for Global Safe WASH, to understand what is happening in the Seine, we can look to other major cities like Atlanta.

“In Paris, their main problem is sewage, and in Atlanta we sometimes have a problem with sewage as well when we have heavy rainfalls,” she says. “Lots of cities have older sewage systems that have not been able to keep up with population growth. There can be problems with what are called combined sewer overflows, where the rainwater and the water coming from household toilets and sinks get combined, and then they may overflow into the river.”

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