Paris Opens Major Stormwater Basin to Enhance Seine Water Quality for 2024 Olympics

The new Austerlitz basin, designed to hold 46,000 cubic meters of stormwater, aims to ensure safe swimming conditions for Olympic events.

The Austerlitz basin, located next to Austerlitz train station, was inaugurated on Thursday by Paris officials, including Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Designed to mitigate pollution from heavy rains, the basin can store water equivalent to 20 Olympic swimming pools.
The basin is part of a broader effort to improve Seine water quality, which has seen significant enhancements over the past decade.
Daily water quality tests during the Olympics will determine if conditions are suitable for swimming events.
Officials express confidence that the new infrastructure will reduce the frequency of untreated sewage entering the Seine.