Paris implements massive water storage basin to clean up the River Seine for Olympic swimming

Former LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva sounds the alarm on staff shortages and security concerns for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics.

French officials inaugurated on Thursday a huge water storage basin meant to help clean up the River Seine, set to be the venue for marathon swimming at the Paris Games and the swimming leg of the Olympic and Paralympic triathlons.

Sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra praised Paris' ability "to provide athletes from all over the world with an exceptional setting on the Seine for their events."

Last year, swimming test events had to be canceled due to poor water quality. One reason was heavy rains that overwhelmed the city's old sewers, causing a mix of rainwater and untreated sewage to flow into the Seine and leaving safety standards unmet.

AS OLYMPICS NEAR, PARIS POLICE CLEAR 100 MIGRANTS FROM CAMP NEAR CITY HALL

The giant reservoir dug next to Paris’ Austerlitz train station aims to collect excess rainwater and prevent bacteria-laden wastewater from entering the Seine.

Paris' mayor Anne Hidalgo and other officials attend the inauguration of the Austerlitz wastewater and rainwater storage basin, which is intended to make the Seine river cleaner during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on May 2, 2024. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

It can hold the equivalent of 20 Olympic swimming pools of dirty water that will now be treated rather than being spat raw through storm drains into the river.

"We are on time," the prefect of the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, said. "The beginning of the Games will coincide with water quality allowing competition. That’s a tremendous collective success."

Paris mayor Anne Hildago promised she would herself swim in the Seine before the