As Paris gets ready for the Olympics, Parisians are planning on pooping in the Seine. The river, which should accommodate some of the Olympic events, is the subject of a 1.4 billion euro investment plan and not everyone is appreciating that effort.
Swimming in the Seine is prohibited since 1923, despite the fact that the river flows directly through Paris and can be a great spot to cool down on the hottest summer days. At that time, the increased boat traffic and pollution made it too dangerous to swim in its waters and little has changed over the years. However, with the 2024 Olympics in sight, the French and Parisian officials wanted to make an impressive move. They wanted to make the river swimmable again by the summer of 2025 and part of it already for the Olympics, not only for a riverboat parade but also to host some of the events in its waters.
However, in 2022, 1.9 million cubic metres of wastewater still went straight into the water, coming from both houses that still haven’t been connected to the sewer system and boats dumping their wastewater due to lack of other solutions. As the Parisian sewer system is still being modernised, a 1.4 billion euro investment in a 50,000 cubic metre rainwater storage basin which will hold storm overflows before releasing them into the sewers was brought up as the Seine saviour.
But, with just over a month to go until the start of the Olympics on 26 July, concerns are being raised about whether or not the planned events in the Seine might actually take place. In April, the Surfrider Foundation found “concentrations of E. coli and enterococci, intestinal bacteria and formidable indicators of pollution of faecal origin” in its analysis of the Seine water. They warned of the dangerous health consequences for anyone taking a dip in the water, but City of Paris officials appear to have brushed off the Surfrider concerns.
To prove the river is ready, President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo have promised they would both go for a dive in the Seine before the Olympics. In protest, Parisians are planning on pooping in the river on 23 June, just before the politicians dip their toes in the water. The hashtag #JeChieDansLaSeineLe23Juin (“I poop in the Seine on June 23”) is trending on social media and a website has been created with a countdown to the event that even calculates the exact minute one should do their business, depending on where they are in Paris, so that the poo reaches Macron’s swimming spot at the exact time he enters the water.
Why? They are protesting the 1.4 billion euros being used for saving face for the Olympics while other social issues are being ignored. Macron’s recent and very unpopular decision of raising the age of retirement from 62 to 64, which sparked wide protests across the country last year, is among the main issues in question.
