HW- 9

Water Issues in Rio de Janeiro during summer 2016 Olympics

The summer Olympics happening in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016, have caused many concerns for the athletes that will be competing in the water events in Guanabara Bay. When Brazil first got the bid to host the Olympics, one of the prerequisites was that the local water supply would be cleaned up and brought up to the minimum standards for safe drinking, cooking, bathing, dog-washing and swimming water that every civilized country has to abide by. According to the Brazilian Government and Rio de Janeiro’s mayor says it is almost impossible for the water quality to be improved significantly in time for the Olympics coming this summer but that the water will not be an issue in conducting the sporting events required to host the Olympics [1].

Guanabara Bay contains 84% of the city’s untreated sewage [2]. Tests done by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) showed that the hazardous waste in Guanabara Bay is 1.7 million times more hazardous than what is considered hazardous in California [3]. The International Olympic Committee will use the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines to determine if the Guanabara Bay will be safe enough to host the water events or if a new venue will have to be used [3]. In order to fix this problem in time for the Olympics, the water quality standards set by the World Health Organization need to be enforced and more funding from the government is needed.

The Associated Press (AP) have done some water quality tests in Guanabara Bay, Ipanema Beach, and Copacabana Beach Surf, which is the location for the triathlon and marathon and some swim events. The results from these tests show that these areas are consistently virus-laden throughout and there is a spike in bacterial fecal coliforms. The amount of bacterial fecal coliforms is 16 times the amount permitted by the Brazilian government. As a result, all of the water venues for the Olympics are not fit for the athletes to compete in. Mena, who is a waterborne virus expert says that “athletes who ingest three tablespoons of the contaminated water have a 99 percent chance of being infected with viruses [1].” If any of the beaches in the United State or in Europe were contaminated to the same level that Rio de Janeiro’s beaches are contaminated, they would be shut down [1].

The water issues in Rio de Janeiro go much further than the water the athletes have to compete in. The water issues affect the fans and visitors as well because of the showering water, the water food will be cooked in, drinking water, any vegetation that gets watered, or any other ways that a bystander can be in contact with the polluted water.

The polluted water is hard for the city of Rio de Janeiro to fix because Rio de Janeiro is one of the most corrupt localities in the world. The city of Rio de Janeiro has a vast population of very poor underclassman and also a very small population of very wealthy upperclassmen. The wealthy class could have chosen to step up and help with the water issue, but instead is waiting for the Olympics to help bring in the money to fix the problem [4].

The World Bank and the Dutch Development Bank has 20 separate proposals to deal with the water pollution surrounding Rio de Janeiro. The proposals range from installing temporary water treatment plants and purifying water via “constructed wetlands.” Recycling plastics has also been proposed to help raise money to try and fix the polluted water problem for good. The Dutch has also created a “waste harvester” which is a vessel that would be able to collect the waste within Guanabara Bay. The World Bank and the Dutch Development Bank thought that Rio de Janeiro would be a good case study to pilot this new technology [4]. The only issue, again, is money. Without money these proposals will never be able to be implemented. If the cleanup in Rio de Janeiro’s water were to happen, the clean water would not last long because the government does not have the money to uphold the cleanup efforts.

References

[1]	T. P. Fool, "Mike & Mike, Dirty Water, Rio, and What's in Your Glass?," 13 August 2015. [Online]. Available: http://blog.seattlepi.com/thepourfool/2015/08/13/mike-mike-dirty-water-rio-and-whats-in-your-glass/. [Accessed 26 February 2016].
[2]	D. Phillips, "Polluted waters could force Rio de Janeiro to move 2016 olympic sailing races," 15 May 2015. [Online]. Available: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/polluted-bay-could-force-rio-to-move-2016-olympic-sailing-races/2015/05/15/c828bcb6-f362-11e4-bca5-21b51bbdf93e_story.html. [Accessed 3 February 2016].
[3]	B. B. a. J. Barchfield, "AP Investigation: Olympic Teams To Swim Boat In Rio's Filth," 30 July 2015. [Online]. Available: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/d92f6af5121f49d982601a657d745e95/ap-investigation-rios-olympic-water-rife-sewage-virus. [Accessed 3 February 2016].
[4]	O. Balch, "Funding Problems Hit Plan to Clean Rio's Polluted Waterways Ahead of Olympics," 1 February 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/01/funding-problems-hit-plan-clean-rios-polluted-waterways-olympics. [Accessed 26 February 2016].