Forget the romantic Paris you see in the movies. The French capital, in fact, is like any big metropolis: full of problems and unhealthy places. One of them is one of the city's postcards, the Seine River. Or rather, it was.
That's because the City of Light announced that, after 100 years, bathers will finally be able to enter the famous river. To do so, it was necessary to generate a project worth 1.4 billion euros (equivalent to approximately R$ 7.3 billion).
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The cleaning of the site has also been accelerated because of the Olympic Games, which will take place in Paris in 2024. In the games, athletes will compete in triathlon, swimming marathon and paratriathlon in the waters of the Seine River.
In addition, by 2025, according to the city hall, up to three points along the river will be open to the public. Check out more information below!
As with large capitals, Paris grew, with a greater number of houses, a greater volume of waste and sewage – both residential and industrial.
The Paris sewer has a 19th century drainage infrastructure, which collects the waste water used in kitchens and bathrooms. It flows through underground tunnels to treatment centers on the outskirts of the city. However, in times of heavy rain, the excess falls into the Seine River.
Samuel Colin-Canivez, a sanitation specialist who works for the Parisian city hall, explained to BBC News that, if the Sena were not a “safety valve for the sewage system”, eventually the sewage would return to people's homes. Over time, the water in the Parisian river became increasingly infected.
Now, Paris has an underground reservoir that stores sewage runoff in times of heavy rainfall. The space has the capacity to store the equivalent of 20 Olympic swimming pools.
“A tunnel will take the overflow to the reservoir, where [the sewage] can be stored for a day or two. Enough time for the system to stabilize again. Afterwards, it will be disposed normally to the treatment centers”, explained Colin-Canivez.
As you can imagine, the dirt in the water made it unhealthy not only for humans but also for other living things like fish.
In 1960, as published by the BBC, only three species of fish could be found there – demonstrating the low level of salubrity of the water.
Bill François, from the Paris fishing federation, also heard by the BBC, recalled that already in 1900, fish were no bigger than a hand's breadth. Today, he guarantees, “we have between 30 and 35 species of fish in the center of the city and catfish 2 meters long”.
The animals are being reintroduced into the Seine thanks to fishermen's associations. In addition to fish, molluscs, aquatic insects, sponges, crayfish and even algae, they already normally live in Parisian waters.
François guarantees that the water of the Seine is already good enough for swimming, considering that he is in them regularly. However, he warns that the movement has attracted rats to the river as well.
By the way, here is one more piece of information to destroy your image of Paris: over there, rats are a plague (in New York too, but we'll talk about that another time).
And the situation is not cute as in the movie “Ratatouille”. They can transmit leptospirosis and eventually repel bathers from the river.
About this, the city hall guarantees that it will not be a problem, since studies have shown that the amount of bacteria in this disease is not above the ordinary. In addition, they guaranteed that they will monitor and take measures regarding the situation of the rodents.
Graduated in Social Communication at the Federal University of Goiás. Passionate about digital media, pop culture, technology, politics and psychoanalysis.
