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Olympic gold for safe and reliable wastewater disinfection

In preparation for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic swimming events in the river La Seine this summer, the Greater Paris Sanitation Authority trusted Kemira with it´s performic acid solution, KemConnect™ DEX, for their project of disinfecting treated wastewater before discharging.
Olympic athletes jumping into Seine.

Article takeaways

Disinfection innovation: The Greater Paris Sanitation Authority chose Kemira’s KemConnect™ DEX, a performic acid solution, to disinfect wastewater effectively before it is discharged into the Seine.

Enhanced treatment: At the Seine Amont plant, an additional disinfection step was implemented to ensure the wastewater meets regulatory requirements and eliminates pathogen microorganisms, such as E. coli.

Proven efficacy: After four years of evaluation, performic acid was selected for its high efficiency, low environmental impact, and superior performance compared to other disinfection methods.

Historical significance: This initiative marks the first time since 1900 that athletes were able to compete in events in the river Seine, emphasizing the importance of safe and clean water for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Overview of Seine Amont treatment plant

Europe’s

2nd

biggest wastewater treatment plant

Population

2.6M

equivalent

Throughput

600K

M3 per day

At Europe’s second largest wastewater treatment plant, Seine Amont, in Valenton, the wastewater of several agglomerations in the Paris area is treated – over half a million cubic meters of wastewater per day, which equals a population of ~ 2,600,000. As one of the measures to make the river Seine swimmable for athletes during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, an additional treatment step was introduced after tertiary treatment to disinfect the effluent from the plant.

Disinfection methods and regulatory compliance

Wastewater can be disinfected using a variety of methodologies, such as UV or chlorine. Efficiency, flexibility, and reliability are key to ensuring pathogen microorganisms such as intestinal enterococci or E. coli are eliminated. At the same time, it is important that regulatory requirements, like the Bathing Water Directive, are met in an environmentally harmless manner.

The D.I. (Direction de Innovation) from the Greater Paris Sanitation Authority had evaluated performic acid over four years with a very comprehensive protocol to prove its efficacy and its zero-environmental impact with advanced analytical methods. Eventually, Kemira’s KemConnect™ DEX solution was selected as it outperformed other alternatives, as outlined in an open-access ebook on the effectiveness of disinfecting wastewater treatment plant discharges using performic acid, published in 2021.

KemConnect™ DEX is a simple and safe technology providing reliable disinfection in Biarritz for more than 10 years. It’s helping to maintain a good water quality at the beaches for swimmers and surfers with no harm to the environment.

Etienne Carrere
Suez Basque Country Water Manager

Growing adoption of performic acid disinfection

More and more municipalities like Berlin, Biarritz, and Venice apply performic acid disinfection to their effluent to comply with tight discharge limits. Also, an increasing number of water-intensive industries are opting in favor of Kemira’s technology for water reuse applications.

Performic acid is a powerful peracid compound, produced in equilibrium with formic acid and hydrogen peroxide. The chemical formula is CH2O3. It disinfects rapidly and in low doses. The solution is highly efficient even under constantly changing process conditions, without producing any toxic by-products.

We are controlling and cleaning the water before it is discharged into the ocean, so that the public can rest assured it is safe to enjoy swimming or surfing in Biarritz.

Maïder Arosteguy
Mayor of Biarritz

Case Biarritz: Achieving bathing water compliance through safe and environmentally friendly disinfection

Impact on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games

During the 2024 summer season, from April to September, the effluent from the wastewater treatment plant in Valenton near Paris was disinfected reliably before discharge into the river La Seine, helping to meet the required limits according to the bathing water directive for inland waters. For the first time since the Olympic Games in Paris in the year 1900, Olympic and Paralympic athletes were able to compete in seven different events, such as triathlon and marathon swimming in the river again in 2024.

Solutions for

Efficient, rapid and safe disinfection

Kemira KemConnect™ DEX is a chlorine-free disinfection system based on performic acid (PFA) that can be used to treat all kinds of water, from raw water and industrial and municipal wastewater, to storm water overflows.

Athletes practicing swimming for triathlon in a sea.

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