This 13M-Gallon Tank Is Key to Paris’s Olympics Infrastructure | WSJ

Paris has just months before hosting the 2024 Olympic Games, where athletes are set to dive head first into the Seine River. The body of water runs through the heart of the French capital and is a hub for pollution and fecal bacteria, released directly from the city’s sewer system. So how do French politicians plan to clean-up the river before the summer Olympics?
WSJ went inside the project to understand if this $1.5 billion plan can really sanitize the Parisian waterway.
Chapters:
0:00 The Seine
0:29 The plan
2:38 Solutions and challenges
News Explainers
Some days the high-speed news cycle can bring more questions than answers. WSJ’s news explainers break down the day's biggest stories into bite-size pieces to help you make sense of the news.
#Olympics #Paris #WSJ

[@wsj]

LVMH is the biggest local sponsor for this summer’s Paris Games. It’s also designing the medals, making French athletes’ uniforms and stocking VIP suites. Read more about how the group is pulling out all the stops to take over Paris 2024: on.wsj.com/4aw08j3

[@bkbj8282]

Why would I do that? You are a newspaper, not a corporate sponsorship cheerleader. Learn some self respect.

[@TheSupriest]

@@bkbj8282 The French state is intertwined with the LVMH group in a perfectly scandalous way. Judicial wiretaps have shown that many former high-ranking domestic intelligence officials went directly to work for Bernard Arnault (the group's boss) to do their dirty work, such as spying on any politicians critical of the group, as creating every scheme to evade paying taxes. For sure they are the "biggest local sponsor"...

[@jerryfromtheblock6463]

@@bkbj8282 I mean its literally the *wall* *street* journal 🤷‍♂ i feel like ghoulishly selling to the highest bidder without any regard for integrity, morality or self-respect is kind of wall streets thing

[@Max-ve5tu]

Just imagine how nice the likes of Paris, London, or New York would be if they cleaned up their rivers and people could swim in them.

[@brendanzhang7488]

new york wouldnt be possible its a major shipping way with cargo terminals, maybe more upstream near Albany but that would be a little too cold

[@nextinstitute7824]

We swim in the Amsterdam canals 😉

[@astronotics531]

@@brendanzhang7488 The Seine is used for river exchanges.

[@nicky2575]

In London they're building an enormous sewage overflow pipe, which should help the Thames be significantly cleaner

[@davidanalyst671]

kramer swam in NYC

[@Hiro_Trevelyan]

At 1:15 Antoine Guillou said "we're building two cathedrals in Paris at the moment", cause apparently whoever did the subtitles didn't understand

[@MiniKodjo]

J'avais compris " casseroles " 😂

[@jojoknight]

The subtitles cracked me up, even I could understand it. These videos from WSJ are the worst, there is always at least one mistake.

[@Itsmarkyoung]

Triathletes preparing for the Olympics this year watching this 👁️👄👁️

[@Me-ui1zy]

Its a problem every Olympics. I remember Rio 2016 was crazy. But also in Tokyo (they swam in the polluted harbour) Every Olympics they put the triathletes in questionable water ahah

[@Jason-gq8fo]

Paris is doing some great things right now. Bike and public transportation infrastructure too

[@putrapratama-sq8hu]

but we need to remember that, french always has the extraordinary capacity to EFF things up....

[@jimsonjohnson3761]

That's what everyone does for the Olympics. Then usually it slowly degrades back to normal since the money spent won't be offset by income

[@WorldCitizenW]

The last time I visited Paris during my transit was June 2019. I was impressed by the saperate terminal for long transit passengers @CDG with comfortable lounge chairs . It's even more impressive to information volunteers to answers questions in English 😊 they were mostly near the train platform

[@hamelconsultancyllc]

It’s amazing that they’re actually doing something about it. Just so everyone knows, most cities are much worse than Paris. They’re trying to correct it

[@INHUMANENATION]

I just want to mark the moment in time when you actually believed this lol. I'll buy you a burger royale if you test that river in 5 years from now and it's not as bad or worse as currently.

[@magalicochet4327]

​@@INHUMANENATION That's not sure. This projet, making the Seine swimmable, has been on for many years. There have been lots of progress already. Fishermen in particular have seen the stock of fish increase. Swimming basins have already opened to the public.

[@INHUMANENATION]

@@magalicochet4327 It is good to read this. I hope I am wrong in my cynicism.

[@magalicochet4327]

@@INHUMANENATION Maybe I am wrong in my optimism , but for sure there have been means to reach a well specified target.

[@OrigamingForReal]

@@magalicochet4327 If you look at the river right now, very close to the olympics, you lose a little bit of hope....

[@pattymac1776]

Chicago did this but on an even bigger scale and it worked! This type of work will become more common as flooding increases with rising water levels.

[@uhohhotdog]

Or just separate sewer water from runoff water

[@jehiahmaduro6827]

I applaud them for making the effort to do the this with the momentum of the Olympic Games, and having the guts to crack down on the heavy polluters. A clean public river speaks volumes about the values of the people who live in the city. In like manner the folks in London have finally had the courage to clean up the Themes as well.

[@putrapratama-sq8hu]

but we need to remember that the french always has the extraordinary capacity to EFF things up....

[@Happy_Shopper]

Nice to see they're constructing a diving tank for the new free diving event

[@gyallich9974]

Come to Belgrade and test water from the Danube river. I'm pretty sure you will find a new species.

[@nextinstitute7824]

Hahaha and fluorescent, perhaps 😬

[@n.c.467]

Still not safe. It seems immoral to expect athletes to sicken themselves by swimming in this filth, Olympics or not.

[@trvst5938]

If they all protest they can. France needs to redesign its city. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@NeedMoarRage]

Why redesign? Most cities are just as bad or worse ​@@trvst5938

[@aa6dcc]

@@trvst5938 I hope it works, it just seems doomed from the start. I'm French and the Olympic Games will be an absolute shambles and humiliation for us honestly, I really do fear the worst, both in terms of lack of organisation and lack of security sadly...

[@calahan59]

@@aa6dcc oh tg, sois fier de ton pays...

[@m3gAnac0nda]

​@@calahan59Vive l'Algérie

[@EcomCarl]

Paris' ambitious project to transform the Seine into a safe swimming venue for the Olympics and beyond is a monumental effort in urban environmental engineering. It's a reminder of the importance of sustainable city planning and the impact of infrastructure investments on public health and global events. 🌊

[@kerolokerokerolo]

yeah, but doing it fast because deadlines is not ideal.

[@gerardcurtis3911]

Now look at the Thames.

[@flufftronable]

Or the Liffey 🤢

[@shosc16]

The Thames is mainly mud and silt - not pollution. Yes it has spillage, but it’s a myth that it’s brown because of waste. It’s just the nature of the river bed. Also it’s not hard to google

[@errgo2713]

The Thames is absolutely filthy but at least they don't force the world's best triathletes to swim in it 😂

[@jamilyeung944]

Love how this video came out on april fools day

[@iq-ride9329]

Shocking

[@griznatle]

Wait are you telling me the US has stricter standards on something than the EU???? Holy moly

[@user-ml1wj9qf9f]

guess there is no industry group that benefits from high ecoli levels, otherwise they would have lobbied to change the standard lol

[@kl3nd4thu]

This reminds me of the contaminated waters at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

[@pjacobsen1000]

The project is going swimmingly!

[@AuthenticAfricanAdventures]

Shouldn't the title read: "...Is Key to Paris' Olympics..." instead of "Paris's"?

[@kerolokerokerolo]

yes, but they are journalists, what can you expect.

[@josephm.6453]

How did london deal with it in 2012?

[@tabby6426]

Why dont they build a sports complex with a pool for it? I feel like that would just be easier

[@penguinsanddragons]

They want to make it available for the public to swim in again is my assumption, it would be good for locals and tourists to enjoy without traveling to outside the city or using some crowded public pool

[@chinguunerdenebadrakh7022]

The city of Paris ultimately wants the Seine to be clean again and the Olympics is merely a way to set a hard deadline for the project with national pride at stake.

[@LazyStory]

Why? It is open water swimming, not pool-swim.

[@nextinstitute7824]

Who wouldn't wanna swim in the Seine? It's spectacular. In fact I remember seeing a story about a city beach in Paris. I think they're already swimming in summer.

[@SDGreg]

Open water event are not held in a pool. It would be like holding the Marathon in a stadium.

[@tikytak21]

50,000 metre squared?? Volume??

[@Randoid97]

Same thing in Portland Oregon.

[@Gleipnir31]

Former President Jacques Chirac promised to swim in the Seine. He's dead

[@sjpearson14]

House boats just dumping it straight into the river. 😬

[@blurckbud]

Guys...we have The B1M, this is old news man

[@hansfel6679]

I’m in Paris now. Don’t know why anyone would want to swim in the river, it’s filthy. Rained here few days ago, all that run off ending up in the river, gross. Also the CDG can’t handle traffic, customs are as bad as they used to be, 12 hours wait to get thru. Also train ticket lines. Don’t know how they will handle influx in few months time.

[@AKB_48]

How is doing this okay ?

[@totodrum87]

Can you make a report on transportation in Paris for the Olympics?

[@LazyStory]

Why? Are you the only person in the world, that have not been to Paris already? ... and are unable to view all that already have been made LOL

[@MusehanaH]

@LazyStory, I am the other person...

[@totodrum87]

@@LazyStory I live there but there are a lot of rumors on how Paris expects to deal with transportation when it already struggles to do so

[@___beyondhorizon4664]

Assuming there will be specific transportation lanes

[@afbrat14]

buy a bag of oysters

[@vsznry]

Yay! Vive la France

[@theo9976]

I’ve visited Paris and taken a river boat cruise on the Seine. It smelled like a toilet. For the sake of the triathletes, I hope they can clean the river before the Olympics. 😬

[@RespectLoveUnityPeace]

Amazing how countries and cities only care about safety and modernization when sport money is involved…

[@nextinstitute7824]

This is not true. What Paris is doing is in line what many Europeans capitals and big cities have been doing. Question: are you American?

[@HateTheIRS]

Putting excess waste water in the river should be illegal. The rivers should be crystal clear, in Paris, NYC, everywhere.

[@nolan122]

NYC has an organization that is tryin to plant 1 billion oysters. They’ll help filter the river water

[@atroxiv]

The problem is that Paris' sewer infrastructure was mostly built before people knew that diseases were in wastewater, so they just didn't know it was unsafe...

[@magalicochet4327]

​@@atroxivthey knew very well it was unsafe, they just did not have the davantage of hindsight. It was built long ago, and it is difficult to change such huge infrastructures.

[@simon199418]

1000 e coli per 100 ml - suspiciously convenient round numbers........

[@zaynkhan9147]

How much would it cost to bild new pipes - one for rain whater and the other for suwige

[@MrJimheeren]

Much, much more. Billions of euros

[@pjacobsen1000]

To quote Donald Trump: "Billions, and billions, and billions, and......."

[@Victor_Gvne]

For the whole paris and suburban area. Probably 100 billions and decades of heavy works

[@MrCMDTE]

Feels like a problem that could have been adressed like 20 years ago and not just be because they will have an olympic event. It affect everything in the water. Fishing must be very nice knowing the amount germs they can contain.

[@konstantinos4395]

Nobody fishes inside the river

[@some______guy]

It really is admierable. But having lived in France I wouldn't hold my breath for them to actually be able to do it. But it gives me a little hope and I can't wait for the triathlon.

[@stewartmorley2683]

What are average E. coli values in a typical stream, river, or the ocean?

[@HKim0072]

Likely will depend on how close to a population center. And, if they dump sewage into it.

[@jonjap8363]

Im not swimming there, no way….

[@gouravmisra2317]

Thank you very much sir 🎉🎉

[@eddyr1041]

If it works... it will be amazing city😊

[@AlexIsUber]

I was in Paris this week. Water still looking brown

[@mattu909]

It’ll be beautiful if they manage to get it done. Best wishes!!!!!

[@demarwhite6696]

🔥

[@ChrisJSY]

Hear me out, what about a swimming pool? Outrageous I know.

[@cboy0394]

It's not for the same sporting event. This would be to host the marathon swimming competitions. Marathon swimming is done in open water.

[@teevee2145]

Chirac claimed it 35 yrs ago

[@Nilbog-Hunter]

So spend 1billion euros and they dont even know if it will work

[@MrFredericandre]

This is for the habitants of Paris too. It will work eventually, hopefully not with too high of a cost.

[@alexbarnes6065]

This is going to be a disaster.

[@ibra4306]

Yikes, how disgusting.

[@bad2thebone441]

Can they setup Porto johns at certain locations and ask Parisians to use them during the swimming events? Reduce the waste going to the drains?

[@pjacobsen1000]

The waste water already goes straight to processing plants. It is only during heavy rains that the drains flow over into the river, because they are not big enough to handle those massive amounts of water.

[@WorldCitizenW]

Macaroon swimming in the river? 😅 Chest hair alert 😅

[@dimon22323]

Wait, it wasn't an april fools video?

[@kineticdeath]

all you have to do is swim faster than the bugs!

[@robertdblitch]

Make the sceine great again!

[@ItzChickenYall]

*seine

[@HKim0072]

umm, this is worse than procrastinating on college term papers. The Olympics is...this year.

[@kerolokerokerolo]

two months time

[@DC9848]

They should also convert those tourist touring vessels into electric. No point in polluting the Seine with these slow mowing barges that can be very easily electrified.

[@kerolokerokerolo]

and who pays for that

[@gthreesix]

Yikes! It's more about courage than swimming abilities at this point.

[@lpha420]

why not build a uv light matrix for the water to pass through before it reaches athletes... this may reduce the ecoli to acceptable levels.

[@atroxiv]

Incredibly high cost and won't work for water below the first foot or so, not to mention the speed of the water going through would leave the UV light with no time to actually kill it. Cheaper and more sustainable to just minimize the wastewater.

[@TrogdorBurnin8or]

This is a great excuse to finally modernize a centuries-old sewage system. It's not really a great solution for the Olympics, though? You'll never get the long tail of river pollution even if the main sewage trunk line is completely diverted for the duration. It's very inexpensive to make a pool-within-a-pool and chlorinate the water inside.

[@BoliceOccifer]

The Abrams wasn't good enough for them?

[@AndreaDoesYoga]

Amazing initiative, Paris! 💦👏 Let's hope for success.

[@mybinis6664]

I want to swim in the Potomac

[@davidanalyst671]

Its proximity to washington DC means that it will never be clean, and it will be contaminated by washington DC's filth for centuries

[@tommacpherson9456]

I understand there is a massive engineering problem here, but that's got to be one of the world's most expensive band aid solutions to a problem.

[@mclovin6537]

France? Completing work? With 7 days of holiday per week? 😂😂😂

[@frankm7707]

Don’t drink while swimming

[@EMCF_]

Cleaning your waterways shouldn't be reserved for absurd, useless events like the Olympics.

[@aeromtb2468]

drink a gallon

[@Santiagosony]

Sorry but $1,5B for just a tank underground seems a little too much. I was also expecting for some additional technology, like filtering or something, not just storage.

[@asicdathens]

It is also the tunnel under the river that connects to the sewer system from the other side of the river, the connections to the sewage system from this side, etc

[@Victor_Gvne]

As you have guess, yes those 1,5B € are not only for this big tank. There are plenty others infrastructures and cleaning station that are beiing build

[@calahan59]

Santiago a random dude from the internet has an opinion on the cost of big infrastructure...

[@Santiagosony]

@@calahan59 a random dude from the internet so bored with his life that took the time to reply to my opinion

[@calahan59]

@@Santiagosony haha so much salt :D

[@eriqmav]

As a Parisian, I don't care how clean they say the river is I'm not swimming in it 😂

[@INHUMANENATION]

In Environmental Sciences you can use a simple litmus test or water testing kit to figure this out. Don't even need the lab, let alone all the scientists on staff. Schools used to do this locally. It's a shame it's not still done as the data would be invaluable to actual activists. If any exist anymore but I digressth

[@cjjk9142]

No where near as accurate

[@dupond9248]

"hon hon look, jean zhis beaotiful river let's use it as our toilette"

[@G4LIFE74]

Too bad the clouds are rolling in. So much for all the hoopla

[@Semper_Iratus]

Nasty.

[@ropro9817]

lol, who approved this plan before knowing that they could _actually_ clean up the Seine 😆

[@Gleipnir31]

That's the normal decision-making process in France, nothing exceptional.

[@Khazerox]

50 000 m² in capacity...

[@rfldss89]

English is not his first language, he simply misspoke

[@defeatSpace]

1..... thousand.....?

[@defeatSpace]

God Bless America for 126.

[@rabinraj15]

Why is this dude in KK??

[@powsniffer0110]

Disgusting. Why are they wasting that money instead of using existing pools?

[@kerolokerokerolo]

because it is a triathlon

[@kma3647]

For all of you environmentalists out there, this is the kind of thing you ought to be paying attention to. This is a problem that can clearly be identified, observed, and tested. We can take real, observable measures to effect it. We know the water is polluted as a result of the legacy sewage system design, so, naturally, coming up with a technical fix like this is a practical approach to solving the problem. IIRC, the Brits are doing a similar project to help clean the Thames, which is a good thing. Stop wasting time trying to destroy modern living with a misguided crusade against plant food (CO2) and start focusing on problems that we can actually fix to make our immediate environment better and more sustainable. Let's be good stewards of the world we live in rather than virtue signaling trying to "fix" a global "problem" that isn't real with a solution that isn't a coherent solution to literally anything other than a Bond villain's desire for world domination.

[@Jesse-ey5xd]

Very fitting for the Olympics. I had to check this wasn't the onion.

[@kpnglt]

I have lived in paris and there are drunk people throwing up into the seine. I won’t even dip my finger into it, can’t imagine they are going to use it for the triathlon event with people swimming inside.

[@nextinstitute7824]

Supposedly, a lot of people pee in swimming pools or don't shower. I'd rather swim in a cleaned-up river or sea anytime.

[@ratchet2505]

I know it sounds big but I don't think 🤔 that's big enough especially with the population rise?

[@pjacobsen1000]

It's not the population that is the problem, it's the rain, which will come down no matter how many people live in Paris. When it doesn't rain, waste water does not flow into the river.

[@LazyStory]

Antoine Guillou Can't even put on his safety helmet correct for this interview. - So why trust they can make the water safe?

[@Promethazenious]

German engineering in France😹

[@jm9371]

Can you swim with a HAZMAT suit on? .....just saying.

[@dmtien]

This is basically a smaller version of Tokyo's massive rainwater cisterns.

[@davidanalyst671]

france already has this feature.... every major city has this feature.... this was an upgrade to the system, and they needed to olypics to make it politically feasible to do. This isn't a new thing to keep up with tokyo, this is due to political convenience

[@user-hh7bl8pw6q]

It’s a risky place, bed bugs in Paris hotels, water quality issues, and security concerns

[@clivemathieu9386]

What a waste of money

[@Origam-I]

of cooouuurse, when it comes time to not lose head bcauz of media coverage, that's when the will try and make efforts !! i'm french and i'm so happy not to live in paris RN

[@Palaeeudyptes]

They will do the same here in the US for California's turn, and they will shove the homeless off the streets for the weeks leading up to the events.

[@danielfloyd.]

Paris' ****

[@PatricKlein86]

Stop dumping sewage into rivers and the current will clean the river itself… it shouldn’t be that hard of a concept. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@kerolokerokerolo]

it is not dumpingl, it is the sewer system that is connected to the river. So they'd need much more time to change that

[@Angel-rl7qm]

They need Mexicans. The Mexicans will build that asap

[@m3gAnac0nda]

Olé ❤❤

[@Gleipnir31]

In France the tradition is rather to use Portuguese

[@vjrei]

What a disaster of ineptitude.

[@babangteo2853]

Paris Olympic is already a disaster.

[@Stopstalkingme-]

Early

[@safaa9654]

France in a nutshell

[@ChrisNorman-ue3nq]

Best thing that happened to me last year that I can attest to, is the progress I've made so far on trade. Venturing into crypto was my best decision ever, I know more is yet to come 2024

[@HardcorePanda]

Come to India, Ganga River is very suitable.

[@dusty7264]

It’s sad they are not cleaning it up for the citizens, it’s only for the elite athletes.