Unsafe levels of E.coli found in Paris's Seine River before Olympics

Water in the Seine River has unsafe elevated levels of E.coli less than two months before the Paris Olympics, according to the test results published Friday by the group Eau de Paris.

The river is the venue for the swimming competitions.

With unprecedented rain in the first week of June, the levels of E.coli and enterococci bacteria have risen to a level that limits the water of Seine to be unsafe for swimming.

Apart from the opening ceremony, there are a few other events planned in the Seine River passing through downtown Paris, the 1.5km swim of the men’s, and women’s triathlon.

Marathon swimming races over 10 kilometres for women and men are also scheduled on the river respectively.

Though the river has been historically polluted, the $2.2 budget was allocated to clean the river.

A senior member of the IOC, Christophe Dubi, said there were “no reasons to doubt”, the races will go ahead as scheduled in a historic downtown stretch of the Seine near the Eiffel Tower. “We are confident that we will swim in the Seine this summer," he added.

Despite the IOC’s publicly expressed confidence, the final decision on approving the events safe for athletes should rest with the governing bodies of individual sports, World Aquatics and World Triathlon.

The safety of the Seine water for the Olympics has been in doubt since some test events scheduled last August were cancelled, also after unseasonal heavy rains.

According to European standards, the safe limit for E. coli is 900 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres. The World Triathlon Federation uses the same criteria to determine sufficient water quality for competitions.

During the first eight days of June, test results showed that E. coli levels frequently exceeded these thresholds with enterococci levels improving with each day.