E. coli, diarrhea and dead fish

The Seine wasn't alone: Many of Europe's rivers have a serious sewage problem

- OLIVIA RUDGARD, JESS SHANKLEMAN AND AGNIESZKA BARTECZKO

A couple of seniors watch a race from their boat on the River Thames in Henleyon-Thames, west of London. In the U.K., sewage spills into rivers and the sea have caused widespread public outrage. Meanwhile, climate change is bringing wetter weather that can cause flash floods and overwhelm sewer systems.

An Nys and her children love swimming in their local canal on the outskirts of Ghent, Belgium, so much that they’re willing to put up with an unfortunate downside: the possibility of a stomach ache if they accidentally swallow some water.

“They know they have to really keep their mouths shut,” Nys says. “It would of course be nice if you can come here with your kids and enjoy a swim without your kids having diarrhea.”

Olympic triathletes had to contend with the same risk this summer in Paris, where they competed in the Seine after a $2.1 billion (Canadian) effort to make the river swimmable for the first time in over a century. Poor water quality still forced organizers to postpone the big day and several athletes reportedly fell sick after their races.

The incident put a prime-time glare on an emerging political issue in Europe. Many cities like Ghent have medieval roots and centuries-old infrastructure that haven’t been updated to handle the huge uptick in waste that’s discharged from homes and factories. In the U.K., sewage spills into rivers and the sea have caused widespread public outrage. Meanwhile, climate change is bringing wetter weather that can cause flash floods and overwhelm sewer systems.

The European Union this year updated three-decade-old rules for how countries must collect and treat their wastewater, but many are still failing to comply with older laws. The European Commission is currently taking legal action against Italy, Greece and Spain for not reaching clean water standards that should have been met years ago.