Earth Science News
WATER WORLD
As Olympics near, Macron says Seine will be clean enough for him
Reuters Events SMR and Advanced Reactor 2025
As Olympics near, Macron says Seine will be clean enough for him
by AFP Staff Writers
Champigny-Sur-Marne, France (AFP) April 23, 2024

French president Emmanuel Macron, who has repeatedly promised to take an Olympic swim in the Seine, on Tuesday said the river was on the way to becoming "clean".

Macron was responding after Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera unveiled a rainwater treatment plant on the Marne, which flows into the Seine just east of Paris.

She declared that ensuring the two rivers are fit for swimming was "one of the challenges of the century".

On his X account, Macron expressed his satisfaction at this "key step towards making the Seine swimmable".

"The water in the Seine will be cold... but clean", he wrote. "I will be able to confirm it personally."

The Olympic open-water races and triathlon swims will be held on a scenic stretch of the river through the heart of Paris where last summer the bacteria levels passed the city's safe maximum.

The cleanliness of the river is highly dependent on the weather. Heavy rain washes pollution off the banks and also forces drains and waste pipes to back up into the river.

Storms just before events could lead to Olympic postponements or cancellations.

At the opening on Tuesday, Oudea-Castera pointed out there were 94 days to go to the Olympics.

"We are ready, on time," she said. "We will be ready to meet our legacy."

The plant on the Marne, designed to clean water, would handle "the equivalent of an Olympic swimming pool per hour," said Olivier Capitanio, President of the Val-de-Marne Department.

A huge cistern for overflow water at Austerlitz on the eastern fringe of central Paris has been designed to hold the equivalent of 20 Olympic swimming pools worth of water.

The measures to clean up the two rivers should also enable local residents to bathe in them, something they have not been able to do in the Marne since 1970 and in the Seine since 1923.

Macron is not the first French leader to say he will make the Seine clean enough to bathe in.

In 1990, when he was Paris mayor before becoming president, Jacques Chirac promised the river would "soon" be fit for swimming and said he would celebrate by taking a dip. He never did.

pyv-js/bfa/pb/ea

X

Related Links
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
WATER WORLD
How light can vaporize water without the need for heat
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 24, 2024
It's the most fundamental of processes - the evaporation of water from the surfaces of oceans and lakes, the burning off of fog in the morning sun, and the drying of briny ponds that leaves solid salt behind. Evaporation is all around us, and humans have been observing it and making use of it for as long as we have existed. And yet, it turns out, we've been missing a major part of the picture all along. In a series of painstakingly precise experiments, a team of researchers at MIT has demons ... read more

WATER WORLD
Gazans struggle with heat, garbage, insect swarms

UAE announces $544 mn for rain repairs, says lessons 'learned'

France's Macron blasts 'ineffective' UK Rwanda deportation law

Zelensky blasts Russian nuclear risks on Chernobyl anniversary

WATER WORLD
Asterra debuts groundbreaking L-band SAR API for commercial use

Cloud storage: Japan region apologises as wind blows away personal data

Chinese company aims to ramp up Serbia copper, gold mining

BHP bid for Anglo American spotlights surge in copper demand

WATER WORLD
Paris holds its breath for Olympic swimming events in murky Seine

As Olympics near, Macron says Seine will be clean enough for him

2 million bottles of Perrier ordered destroyed by French agency

'It swept everything': Kenya villagers count toll of dam deluge

WATER WORLD
Emperor penguins perish as ice melts to new lows: study

West Antarctic ice shelf stability threatened by feedback loop

New geological map redefines understanding of Greenland's subterranean rocks

From peak to plummet: impending decline of the warm Arctic-cold continents phenomenon

WATER WORLD
Hong Kong team plants seeds to safeguard legacy grains

In south China, silkworm farmers reel from deadly floods

'Extreme' climate blamed for world's worst wine harvest in 62 years

Philippine court blocks GMO 'golden rice' production over safety fears

WATER WORLD
Volcano erupts in eastern Indonesia, spews miles-high ash tower

Taiwan hit by several quakes, strongest reaching 6.1-magnitude

Indonesia volcano erupts, thousands evacuated over tsunami threat

Oman, UAE deluge 'most likely' linked to climate change: scientists

WATER WORLD
HRW says Burkina army killed 223 villagers in revenge attacks

US says still talking to Niger about army pullout

Burkina Faso says massacre report "baseless"

Crocodile hunting wanes but legends live on in DR Congo

WATER WORLD
Iraq passes bill sentencing same-sex acts to 10-15 years' jail

LGBTQ Iraqis fear dark days ahead after anti-gay law

Ancient landscapes point to Australia's initial human migration paths

Evidence of long term human occupation in lava tube cave in Saudi Arabia

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.