Seine to Be Cold but Clean: French President Reports River's Purification Ahead of 2024 Olympics

French President Emmanuel Macron has personally assured that the water in the Seine River in Paris will be clean enough to host swimming competitions in May at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Macron wrote about this on X (Twitter). 

"A key step towards making the Seine swimmable - the wastewater treatment plant is ready... The water in the Seine will be cool but clean. I can confirm this," he said.

The day before, the French President attended the opening of a rainwater treatment plant in Champagne-sur-Marne.

Earlier, due to information about the high level of pollution in the Seine River, which is to be used during the Olympic Games this summer, France planned to cancel water competitions. This was reported by a French charity that protects water resources. 

However, the day before, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo expressed confidence that this summer the water quality in the Seine River would meet the standards for competitions during the Olympics.

In early March, Macron promised to swim in the Seine one day and joked that he would not announce the date in advance so that a whole crowd would not gather there. 

From Jacques Chirac to Bertrand Delanois to Anne Hidalgo, all the mayors of Paris have dreamed of lifting the ban on swimming in the Seine, which was adopted in 1923. One hundred years later, the 2024 Olympic Games should be an opportunity to fulfil this promise.

As The Gaze previously wrote, security measures will be tightened in France before the Olympic torch arrives in Paris on 8 May, and giant Olympic rings will be installed on the Eiffel Tower during the Olympics in Paris.