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The River Seine in Paris,seems as bad at the River Thames

(13 Posts)
Joseann Wed 10-Apr-24 20:21:44

I'm a Londoner. I was living in East London in 2012, Olympics year, and I remember the European Environmental Agency passed The Serpentine as satisfactory for water events like the marathon swim and the triathlon. The Thames supplies the water to the Serpentine, so I assume the Thames was deemed clean enough for the events to take place.
Where are they planning to hold the water events in Paris? Who is raising concerns? Is there more info available before I get into researching.

winterwhite Wed 10-Apr-24 20:18:43

Paris is much further from the sea than London and the Seine there much narrower and slower. That may have something to do with it.

Casdon Wed 10-Apr-24 20:03:25

That’s really disgusting isn’t it though, that all that sewage flows into the Thames but it’s still the cleanest - goodness knows what the other city rivers must be like.

M0nica Wed 10-Apr-24 19:53:41

Read the report I quoted. It makes interesting reading. The Thames is the cleanest urban river despite the sewage flows, and while, but people are not recommended to swim in the tidaal THames

DD has swum in the Thames at Henley and in the Upper Thames at Wallingford and Buscot. She aslo swims in the Great Ouse in the St Neots area and in natural lakes in places like Stevenage.

TerriBull Wed 10-Apr-24 18:26:55

Possibly the upper reaches of the Thames are ok and suitable for a bit of wild swimming, but when I lived very close to that river between Kingston and Richmond, personally I wouldn't have wanted to do that, rats wee and Weil's Disease would be one factor and there was a time if having an outside coffee in say Kingston near the river, there were certain times when the release of sewage into the river could hit the nostrils. I did see people swimming in the height of summer and when David Walliams did one of his mammoth sponsored swims very near where I lived he got sick the next day!

keepingquiet Wed 10-Apr-24 18:02:57

I've only been to Paris once but found it pretty dirty and French toilet facilities generally are not good.

Jaxjacky Wed 10-Apr-24 17:33:09

infoman at a guess £££ or even €€€.

RosiesMaw Wed 10-Apr-24 17:26:55

infoman

Concerns are being raised about the quality of the water at the Paris Olympics in the summer of 2024,why are first world countries allowing this to happen?

Allowing what to happen?
Checking on water quality?
Swimming in major rivers in industrialised cities?

RosiesMaw Wed 10-Apr-24 17:25:46

Allsorts

I for one won’t be swimming in it.

Were you planning to rake part in the Triathlon then? 🏊🚴 🏃‍♂️

Casdon Wed 10-Apr-24 17:18:40

Thames Water has pumped human waste into the Greater London area of the River Thames for a staggering 1,914 hours since the start of 2024 – equivalent to 79 days.20 Mar 2024

riveractionuk.com › thames-...

Neither of them are anything to write home about. The Seine is France’s problem though, it’s UK water I’m worried about.

M0nica Wed 10-Apr-24 16:44:41

The Thames is considered to be the cleanest river in the world that flows through a major city. The Thames is home to 125 species of fish and more than 400 invertebrates. This is in spite of the fact that raw sewage is routinely pumped into the river during heavy rains.
walkthethames.co.uk/blog/2020/03/24/how-clean-is-the-thames/

Don't compare the Thames with the Seine, the Thames is much cleaner.

Allsorts Wed 10-Apr-24 16:41:27

I for one won’t be swimming in it.

infoman Wed 10-Apr-24 16:39:41

Concerns are being raised about the quality of the water at the Paris Olympics in the summer of 2024,why are first world countries allowing this to happen?