Olympic Triathlon Delayed Because of Seine River Water Quality

The organization supervising the Olympic triathlon event at the Paris Olympics has postponed the event because of water quality in the Seine River.

However, World Triathlon and city officials are hopeful the event, which includes swimming, bicycling, and running, can start on July 31.

World Triathlon is the sport's governing body, overseeing competitions and safety. Its technical and medical team met with the International Olympic Committee, and city and local French government officials. They decided to postpone the event because of water quality.

How does water quality affect health?

Tests in June showed unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria although results in July showed improvement.

Dr. Nicole Iovine is an infectious disease specialist at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She said while most kinds of E. coli are not harmful, high numbers can be dangerous. The presence of E. coli is a sign that human and animal waste is in water. The World Triathlon Federation considers E. coli levels higher than 900 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters to be unsafe.

Swimming in water with unsafe levels of bacteria can lead to feeling sick to the stomach and intestinal problems. Swimmers are likely to swallow water, which can lead to diarrhea. The bacteria can also infect the urinary tract or open cuts.

Iovine said, “The athletes are young, and they're in the best shape of anybody...But that doesn't mean they can't get sick from these things.”

Officials are hoping for sunny weather. The ultraviolet light in sunlight can kill bacteria and higher temperatures bring levels of E. coli and other bacteria in the river water to within safe limits.

French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra told French news media on Monday that officials are “absolutely serene about all this.” She said plans put in place to control the bacterial levels in the river have worked, but the weather was beyond their control.

Why is the Seine River polluted?

Swimming in the Seine River has been banned for more than 100 years. But Olympic officials wanted to have the swimming part of the triathlon event in the city's famous waterway. So, Paris officials spent $1.5 billion to clean up the Seine.

Paris is an ancient city. And like many old cities, it has what is known as a combined sewer system. That means the city's wastewater and storm water flow through the same pipes. When heavy rainfall happens, the pipes carry the extra “storm water” along with wastewater into the river instead of a sewage treatment center. As a result, untreated human waste goes directly into the river after heavy rains.

Iovine said bacteria, viruses and parasites get into the water through human waste. But other things too.

“It's also wildlife — rodents, for example. When it rains a lot, all of that from those animals can end up in the Seine,” she said.

To prevent the wastewater overflow, Paris officials built a huge basin next to the Austerlitz train station. It is supposed to capture extra rainwater to keep waste from flowing into the river. They also rebuilt parts of the sewer system and improved water treatment centers. However, heavy rain can still overwhelm the system.

The rain that took place during the weekend of the Olympic opening ceremonies filled the basin by 20 percent. So, officials said the pollution was likely coming from wastewater upstream.

If the water quality does not improve, officials are considering holding the event on August 2.

I'm Caty Weaver.

Pat Graham, Kate Brumback, and Devna Bose reported for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted them for VOA Learning English with additional AP material.

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unit –n. one amount of something

urinary tract –n. (medical) the tubes that carry liquid waste from the kidneys out of the body

serene –adj. peaceful and untroubled

sewer –n. pipes used to carry wastewater

basin –n. an area or container that holds water

upstream –adj. the part of a river or stream that is closer to the source (opposite: downstream)