• The Seine River is set to be a star feature of the Paris Olympics, but with just one month remaining until the opening of the games, heavy rains and pollution are keeping organisers in suspense on whether they will be able to host the open-water swimming events and a leg of the triathlon in the river.

• The 2024 Olympics will begin on July 26 with the Opening Ceremony, which will be held along the Seine through the heart of Paris. The games will conclude on August 11

• French authorities have spent $1.5 billion in the last decade trying to clean up the river by improving the Paris sewerage system, as well as building new water treatment and storage facilities.

• But major storms still overwhelm the waste water network, some of which dates back to the 19th century, leading to discharges of untreated sewage directly into the river.

• The Seine was too dirty when tested on June 16 to allow the Olympic triathlon and open-water swimming events to be held there.

• Test results showed levels of E. Coli — a bacteria indicating faecal matter — were often twice as high as the maximum permitted limit for Olympic swimming.

• Paris is hosting the summer Olympics for a third time after 1900 and 1924.

Quick facts about Seine River:

• The Seine River crosses several important urbanised areas of France. 

• With a length of 777 km, it originates near Dijon, flows through Paris, and discharges to the English Channel.

• It is the second-largest river in France after the Loire.

• The banks of the Seine are studded with a succession of architectural and urban masterpieces built from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

• From the Ile St Louis to the Pont Neuf, from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower, and the Place de la Concorde to the Grand and Petit Palais, the evolution of Paris and its history can be seen from the River Seine. A large number of major monuments of the French capital are built alongside the river and on the perspectives overlooking it.

• The banks of the river comprise the most masterful constructions of French classicism, with the Louvre Palace, the Invalides, the Ecole Militaire and the Monnaie (the Mint).

• The major tributaries to the Seine are the Yonne and Cure, in the Morvan Mountains, and the Aube, Loing, Marne and Oise rivers

• Nearly half of the water used in the region around Paris, both for industry and for human consumption, is taken from the river.

• Beneath the Seine River basin are permeable rocks with high absorption capacities, helping in mitigating river floods.

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