2024년 올림픽을 위한 파리의 센강 정화 노력

### 파리, 2024년 올림픽 오픈워터 수영 종목을 위해 센강 정화 경쟁에 나서다
* 🏊 파리 시장 앤 이달고는 **센 강을 2024년 하계 올림픽의 핵심 장소**로 선정하고 **역사적인 올림픽 개막식과 오픈워터 수영 이벤트**를 계획하고 있습니다.
* 💩 센 강은 하수 범람으로 인해 **한 세기 동안 수영이 금지**되어 왔으며, 강에는 **사람의 배설물이 포함**되어 있습니다.
* 🚧 프랑스 관리들은 오염을 완화하기 위해 **강 근처에 거대한 지하 인프라 프로젝트**를 건설했습니다.
* 🦠 2023년 8월의 예선 대회는 **허용되지 않는 대장균 수치**로 인해 취소되었으며, 대회 4개월 전에 채취한 물 샘플은 여전히 **허용 한도를 초과**했습니다.
* 🌧 파리를 포함한 많은 도시의 하수도 시스템은 **폭우 후 대장균 수치를 급격히 증가**시킵니다.
* 🏗 1,320만 갤런 규모의 지하 저수지이자 터널인 오스터리츠 분지는 하수 범람으로 인한 센강의 갑작스러운 오염을 방지하기 위한 **15억 달러 규모의 프로젝트**의 일환입니다.
* 🎖 프랑스 당국은 올림픽 이후 센 강으로 유입되는 하수구 수문 개방을 **1년에 두 번 이하**로 제한할 계획입니다.
* 🎯 장기적인 목표는 올림픽 이후 센 강에서 수영을 다시 할 수 있도록 하는 것으로, **2025년에 세 곳의 수영장을 일반에 개방**하는 것입니다.

파리는 수질 오염 문제와 거대한 수조가 필요함에도 불구하고 센 강을 핵심 경기장으로 2024년 하계 올림픽을 개최하는 것을 목표로 하고 있습니다.

Back in 2017, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo reinforced one thing in the city's final push to host the 2024 Summer Olympics: that its famous river, the Seine, would be a key fixture of the games, including an historic Olympics opening ceremony, the first held outside of a stadium. For which French officials initially said there is “no plan B,” and that open water swimming events would be held in it. It's not hard to see why. The Seine runs along some of Paris's most famous landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. The thing is, swimming has been banned in the Seine for a century. And that's because the River Seine has human sh*t in it. Like many urban waterways around the world, the Seine takes on sewage overflow during heavy rain when the city's underground sewer systems get overwhelmed with stormwater. Hidalgo even said she would take a swim in the Seine herself ahead of the games.

French President Emmanuel Macron promised the same thing. They say they're confident because of an enormous underground infrastructure project they've built near the river, to ensure as much as possible that it won't sh*t on their parade. This isn't the first time Olympic open water swimming events – the triathlon, para triathlon, and marathon swimming – were at risk of being canceled last minute due to water quality issues. We saw some of the same headlines during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In both cases, they pulled it off. And Paris hopes to do the same. But the journey to clean up the Seine hasn't come without a few setbacks. A preliminary event in the river, scheduled for August 2023, was canceled when water analysis showed an unacceptable amount of E. coli in the water. E. coli are bacteria that originate in the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals. Presence of them in water is a strong indicator of “recent fecal contamination.”

Which can make you very, very, very sick. In order for an open
water swim event to be given the go-ahead, water analysis reports must be submitted no more than 48 hours prior to competition. Those samples cannot exceed more than 1,000 cfu – colony-forming units – of e. coli per 100ml of water. And 400 cfu of enterococci. Another bacteria... associated with feces. Test results published just four months ahead of the games showed that river samples taken at this bridge, the site of open water swimming events, still failed to get under that crucial 1,000 number for permissible levels of E. coli. You can see where this contamination is coming from by taking a look at this 1852 map. Showing how the original Paris sewer system was built. It dumps right into the Seine. Which is gross. But it's not a problem
that's unique to Paris. Many urban sewer systems work this way.

Before I get into that, though, I want to tell you about the sponsor of today's video, BetterHelp. I don't know about you, but this year feels like it has flown by. And I can't believe we're halfway through the summer already. Therapy is a great way to ground yourself in the present and help you set achievable goals for your mental health for the next six months. But finding time to talk to a therapist can be hard. That's where BetterHelp comes in. It's entirely online, designed to be flexible, convenient, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist, and switch therapists anytime, at no additional charge. Talk therapy has definitely been helpful for me, and if it's something that you want to try out too, get started with BetterHelp. Take a moment, visit BetterHelp.com/VoxVideo to get 10% off your first month. Many cities that built sewer systems

in the mid-1800s to early 1900s, like Paris did, installed what's known as a “combined sewer system.” In a combined sewer system, the same pipes that handle wastewater also handle stormwater, which gets collected through storm drains in the street. Everything gets sent along to be processed at water treatment facilities and then cycles out to the natural environment. When it rains a lot, the sewers can get too full. When this happens, rather than flooding back into the street, the excess combined wastewater and stormwater gets partially redirected to a nearby waterway. Which is why E. coli levels in water can spike dramatically in the hours following heavy rain. It's because that water was recently contaminated with sh*t. So you'll see signs near combined sewer outfalls that prohibit swimming after heavy rain. If that happens during the Olympics, it could mean canceling open water swimming events. So Paris built a giant tank. This 13.2 million gallon capacity

underground reservoir and tunnel, is part of a 1.5 billion USD infrastructure project that aims to clean up the Seine. It's called the Austerlitz Basin, built near the Austerlitz metro station, right by the Seine. With the tunnel running under the river to the sewers. French officials opened the basin less than three months ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony, which is scheduled for July 26th. I'll let this guy explain how it works. Basically, this system will hold excess water so the sewers don't get overwhelmed in a heavy rainstorm. And then it will methodically release the water back through the sewer system. Giant reservoirs like this have worked in other cities with big populations. Like the Thorton Composite Reservoir outside of Chicago, which can hold nearly 8 billion gallons of wastewater. And this combined sewer outflow facility in the Parerdegat Basin in New York – designed to prevent contamination of the basin

and nearby Jamaica Bay. The Austerlitz Basin isn't designed to clean the Seine. That's an ongoing, multi-pronged process. This project was built to prevent further – and sudden – contamination of the Seine from combined sewer overflow. The goal, according to French officials, is to resort to opening the sewer overflow gates that dump into the Seine no more than twice a year, compared to the current rate of 10 to 15 times per year. Paris will continue testing as the Olympics rapidly approach, but Hidalgo and Macron have yet to swim in the Seine. Even if all goes perfectly according to plan, a significant rainstorm could still contaminate the Seine, forcing open water swimming events to be postponed. The idea of making the Seine swimmable again goes beyond just the 2024 Olympic Games. [ARCHIVE] “It seems to be a good thing to start last in this annual race through Paris.

because the River Seine gets so full, you could almost walk over the swimmers in front.” It brings the city back to a time when the river was a place for Parisians to cool off in the summer,
instead of biohazard. Once the Olympics are over, that becomes the next phase of this project. According to Mayor Anne Hidalgo, three swimming sites in the Seine will open to the general public in 2025,
“thanks to the games.” As for the plan to host the opening ceremony along the Seine, French President Emmanuel Macron has now said that there are backup plans “if the security risk is too high.” Whether or not open water swimming will be possible can only be determined hours before the events and will be at the mercy of rain. Meaning making the Seine swimmable in time for the Olympics is going to take a lot of work and a lot of luck.

Can Paris fix its poop problem before the Olympics?

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2024년 하계 올림픽에서 센 강을 선보일 파리의 계획

앤 이달고 파리 시장은 하수 범람으로 인해 수영이 금지된 센 강을 2024년 올림픽의 중심지로 만들겠다고 약속했습니다.

파리시는 수질 개선을 위한 지하 인프라 프로젝트에 투자했으며 오픈워터 수영 대회를 개최할 수 있다고 자신했습니다.

그러나 허용되지 않는 수준의 대장균으로 인해 예비 이벤트가 취소되면서 올림픽을 위한 강 정화의 어려움을 보여주었습니다.

수질 분석 보고서는 물이 대장균이나 장구균과 같은 박테리아에 오염되지 않았는지 확인하기 위해 오픈 워터 수영 이벤트에서 매우 중요합니다.

1852년으로 거슬러 올라가는 파리의 하수도 시스템은 센 강으로 직접 버려져 센 강의 수질 오염에 기여하고 있습니다.

전 세계의 도시 하수도 시스템은 비슷한 방식으로 작동하는 경우가 많으며, 이는 오픈 워터 이벤트에 공통적인 문제를 야기합니다.

오스테를리츠 분지: 폐수 및 우수 관리에 대한 파리의 솔루션

파리는 15억 달러 규모의 인프라 프로젝트의 일환으로 오폐수 및 빗물 범람을 방지하기 위해 대규모 지하 저수지 및 터널인 오스테를리츠 분지를 건설했습니다.

이 시스템은 폭우 시 과도한 물을 저장했다가 하수도 시스템을 통해 체계적으로 다시 방출하여 센 강을 정화하고 수로 오염을 방지하는 것을 목표로 합니다.

올림픽을 3개월도 채 남겨두지 않은 상황에서 오스테를리츠 분지의 개장은 폭우 후 대장균 수치가 높아져 오픈 워터 수영 경기를 취소해야 하는 상황을 방지할 수 있다는 점에서 매우 중요한 의미를 갖습니다.

2024년 올림픽을 위해 세느강에서 수영할 수 있게 하려는 노력

파리의 오스테를리츠 유역 프로젝트는 세느강을 청소하는 것이 목적이 아니라 하수 범람으로 인한 갑작스러운 오염을 방지하는 데 목적이 있습니다.

프랑스 당국은 2024년 올림픽 전까지 세느강에 하수 범람을 1년에 두 번 이하로 줄이는 것을 목표로 하고 있습니다.

이러한 노력에도 불구하고 올림픽 기간 동안 센 강의 수영 가능 여부는 여전히 불확실하며 폭풍우로 인해 영향을 받을 수 있습니다.