--- title: Watch the Transformation of this Polluted Paris River description: For 100 years, swimming has been banned in the Seine due to high levels of E. coli and pollution. canonical: https://time.com/6262339/seine-history-video/ author: Andrew Johnson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-03-13T16:44:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T15:34:13.890Z article:section: Climate og:title: Watch the Transformation of this Polluted Paris River og:description: For 100 years, swimming has been banned in the Seine due to high levels of E. coli and pollution. og:url: https://time.com/6262339/seine-history-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3894c3b2dd49994e/698a3b13457a52ef67d6765a/GettyImages-1150600834.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Eiffel Tower and Seine river at sunrise, Paris, France og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch the Transformation of this Polluted Paris River twitter:description: For 100 years, swimming has been banned in the Seine due to high levels of E. coli and pollution. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3894c3b2dd49994e/698a3b13457a52ef67d6765a/GettyImages-1150600834.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch How Paris Plans to Make This Polluted and Iconic River Swimmable Again  by [Andrew Johnson](https://time.com/author/andrew-johnson/)  ## Andrew Johnson Mar 13, 2023 4:44 PM UTC  Getty Images—Alexander Spatari  by [Andrew Johnson](https://time.com/author/andrew-johnson/)  ## Andrew Johnson Mar 13, 2023 4:44 PM UTC ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6262339/seine-history-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6262339/seine-history-video/"},"headline":"Watch How Paris Plans to Make This Polluted and Iconic River Swimmable Again","datePublished":"2023-03-13T16:44:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T15:34:13.890Z","description":"For 100 years, swimming has been banned in the Seine due to high levels of E. coli and pollution. Officials say they are trying to return the river to its past glory by making it swimmable in time for the 2024 Olympics.","url":"https://time.com/6262339/seine-history-video/","keywords":["News"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3894c3b2dd49994e/698a3b13457a52ef67d6765a/GettyImages-1150600834.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Andrew Johnson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/andrew-johnson/"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3894c3b2dd49994e/698a3b13457a52ef67d6765a/GettyImages-1150600834.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Eiffel Tower and Seine river at sunrise, Paris, France","caption":"Eiffel Tower and Seine river at sunrise, Paris, France","creditText":"Getty Images—Alexander Spatari","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6262339/seine-history-video/","name":"Watch How Paris Plans to Make This Polluted and Iconic River Swimmable Again"}}]}] ```