PARIS — The River Seine will be a central element of the Paris 2024 Olympics, with the opening ceremony taking place on the river with a boat parade and two events, the marathon swimming and the swimming leg of the triathlon scheduled to be held there.

However, pollution levels in the Seine have raised health concerns for athletes.

Where do we stand now?

The monitoring group (State and City of Paris), based on Eau de Paris water analysis, publishes weekly results. The first three bulletins for the month of June showed the water quality was insufficient to allow bathing. The latest data published on Thursday, however, showed that the river was suitable for swimming six out of nine days between June 24 to July 2.

What are the conditions for the river to be suitable for swimming?

Testers measure the level of two bacteria — E. coli (Escherichia coli) and Enterococcus faecalis.

According to European standards, the safe limit for E. coli is 900 colony-forming units (cfu) per 100 millilitres while the threshold for Enterococcus is 330 cfu/100ml.

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