Today’s Solutions: November 22, 2024

If you stroll through Paris on a warm summer day, you’ll likely see groups of sunbathers and picnickers lounging near the Seine, but you probably won’t see anyone swimming. Waste management and pollution issues have made the river too dirty to swim in, but that may change thanks to a new city program.

Ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics in the city, Paris officials have launched plans to build a subterranean water tank to prevent sewage from spilling into the river during heavy rains. Located under a public garden near the Left Bank’s Gare D’Austerlitz, the tank will prevent the discharge of over two million cubic meters of contaminated water which finds its way into the river during large storms.

Although the Seine is still too dirty to swim in, it has come a long way since the 1990s, when contamination levels were 10 times higher. Mayor Jacques Chirac made a commitment to clean up the river in 1988 and water management projects have already helped revitalize fish populations in the river and made it possible to open swimming facilities in the sheltered Canal Saint Martin, which runs into the Seine.

If successful, Paris hopes they will be able to use the cleaner river as a site for the Olympic triathlon and other swimming events.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

This Canadian didn’t want to fly from Germany to Canada—so he took a cargo ship

When Will Vibert’s European work visa was closing in on its expiration date, the Canadian was reluctant to travel back to Vancouver via plane. ...

Read More

Simple movement is connected to better brain health in older adults

It goes without saying that practicing regular exercise offers plentiful benefits for our overall health, but as we age, engaging in the same exercise ...

Read More

Passive cooling techniques reduce AC strain by up to 80 percent

In the summer months, many of us are of two minds: we’re dying to keep it cool, but we’re also dying not to spend ...

Read More

Making windows bird-friendly: a crash course on protecting our feathered friends

In 1990, Michael Mesure was on the way to a wildlife rehabilitation center. Among his passengers was a common yellowthroat, a colorful warbler that ...

Read More