Unsafe levels of E. coli found in Paris’s Seine River less than two months before Olympics

Water in the Seine River had unsafe elevated levels of E. coli less than two months before swimming competitions are scheduled to take place in it during the Paris Olympics, according to test results published on Friday.

Contamination levels in the first eight days of June, after persistent heavy rain in Paris, showed bacteria such as E. coli and enterococci existed in the river beyond the limits judged safe for athletes.

The report was published by monitoring group Eau de Paris one day after a senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive said there were “no reasons to doubt” races will go ahead as scheduled in in a historic downtown stretch of the Seine near the Eiffel Tower.

“We are confident that we will swim in the Seine this summer,” IOC official Christophe Dubi said on Thursday at an online briefing, after hearing an update from city officials and Olympic organisers.

The water was found to have breached European standards for E. coli levels repeatedly in early June.(AP Photo: Michel Euler)

The first Olympic event in the cleaned-up Seine is the men’s triathlon, including a 1.5-kilometre swim, on the morning of July 30. The women’s triathlon is the next day, and a mixed relay event is due to take place on August 5.

Marathon swimming races over 10 kilometres for women and men are scheduled on August 8 and 9, respectively.

Final safety decision in doubt

According to European standards, the safe limit for E. coli is 900 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres.

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