Parisians Log 50,000 Seine Swims After €1.4 Billion Clean-Up Opens 8 Sites
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Aug 21
Parisians Log 50,000 Seine Swims After €1.4 Billion Clean-Up Opens 8 Sites
2 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Aug 21
Summary
About 50,000 people have swum in the Seine since early July, using three central Paris sites and five upstream suburban spots created after the river’s €1.4 billion overhaul.
The Olympic-driven project added new treatment plants, connected 300 houseboats to sewers and built a 50,000-cubic-metre overflow basin, helping keep water quality high through a record-hot July.
Closures still follow heavy rain because Paris’s old sewer system can spill untreated wastewater into the river for days; this summer’s only interruption so far came from illegal fuel dumping.
Last summer the three Paris sites opened for only about two-thirds of July and August in unusually wet weather, underscoring how drought and heat have temporarily made swimming more reliable.
Officials frame open-water swimming as climate adaptation for a city hit by 34C heat and 5,764 excess deaths in a late-June heatwave, even as critics question the project’s cost.
With costs tripling those of local pools, is the Seine's revival a genuine public health triumph or an expensive Olympic illusion?
After spending 1.4 billion euros, why is Paris's flagship climate adaptation project still at the mercy of a single summer storm?
From €1.4 Billion Cleanup to 100,000 Swimmers: How Paris Made the Seine Swimmable Again and Sparked a Global Urban River Revolution
Overview
The 2024 Paris Olympics sparked a €1.4 billion cleanup of the Seine River, leading to major engineering upgrades like new disinfection units and the Austerlitz stormwater basin. These efforts eliminated 75% of bacteriological pollution, allowing Paris to open public swimming sites in 2025, which quickly became popular. By 2026, the initiative expanded to 12 sites, boosting Paris’s image as a sustainable tourism leader and helping local biodiversity recover. However, heavy rainfall still causes sewer overflows and temporary swimming bans, while public skepticism remains due to fluctuating water quality and safety concerns. As climate change brings more heatwaves, access to clean urban waterways is becoming essential for public health.