Seine water quality “on target” two weeks before paratriathlon events

The Ile-de-France prefecture, the Paris city hall and the Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games published a joint press release on Friday evening.

Reassuring news for paratriathletes. “A week after the end of the Olympic Games, the quality of the water in the Seine is up to par”said Friday, in a joint press release, the prefecture of Ile-de-France, the city of Paris and the Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop).

The publication of weekly bulletins, which began in June, has resumed for the period from August 7 to 13. Two bacteria are studied: e.coli and enterococci. “A quality that complies with swimmability standards on almost all points”was observed, the organizing authorities emphasize, the samples having been prevented at one of the four points monitored daily, at the Grenelle arm, in the west of Paris, due to the running of the marathon for all.

“The quality of the water in the Seine was thus below the thresholds of the bathing directive at almost all points all week. On the Olympic site, the quality of the water in the Seine was below the thresholds seven days a week, summarizes the press release. This week was marked by a favorable meteorological context, which had a positive impact on water quality.” It is also noted that the flow of the Seine remains “twice as high as that usually observed in summer”around 300 m3/second.

During the Paralympic Games, the men’s (September 1) and women’s (September 2) paratriathlon events take place partly in the Seine. A year ago, during the test event, the event was transformed into a duathlon due to unsatisfactory water quality.