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Swimmable Cities

swimmablecities.org

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Re: Swimmable Cities

#81

Post by lou1306 »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #19
coreyh14444 wrote: post #9

American living in Copenhagen here. We check all of these boxes. The entire channel that runs through town is swimmable thanks to decades of work cleaning it up. On a warm summer day, you could expect maybe 1000+ swimmers in the water in the city centre across all the locations. We also do Vinterbadere (Winter Bathing) throughout the year. The only time you can't swim is after a day or two of sustained rain and there…

Why you can't swim after the rain? Does the water get dirty, or else?

Since all other replies are a bit too concise, I'll try and dive deeper (ha ha).

1) Naturally, rains wash out street grime and small pieces of rubbish which may easily bypass the sewage system altogether and end up in the river.

2) Cities have systems in place to treat wastewaters before releasing them into the rivers. However, these systems need to store yet-untreated water in reservoirs, and heavy rain may fill these up. Then, the only solution (if you don't want sewage to blast out sewer holes) is to release the water without treating it. In fact, one of the main upgrades made by Paris for the recent Olympics was a massive, 30-meter-deep new basin [1] built exactly to mitigate that risk.

[1]: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/giant-reservoir-ready-s...

Re: Swimmable Cities

#82

Post by elric »

MaxDorkroom wrote: post #80
elric wrote: post #78

In Belgium, we don't even have swimmable pools. There are too few of them, their opening hours are worthless, going for a swim is stupidly expensive (~8eur), and many pools now require that you show them ID before you're allowed to enter. In all, it's become extremely unpleasant. The results are as depressing as expected: more drownings (especially in the north sea) every year, and kids can barely stay afloat anymore…

[flagged]

Are you saying €8 is not too expensive for a swim? That's an insane price.

Yes, the ID thing is preventing me from entering. It's not about keeping "undocumented and migrants" out. It's allegedly about keeping troublemakers out, but it's yet another pointless deterrent. There's no need to force everyone to show an ID to enter a pool simply because of a few bad apples.

I don't care about your bizarre rhetoric about "how low Europe has sunk", please take your nonsense elsewhere. We certainly don't need razor wire or security guards in pools. Though, perversely, I'm sure it's easier to convince politicians to install those than it is to spend more money on lifeguards.

Re: Swimmable Cities

#83

Post by lou1306 »

hopsworks wrote: post #31

In Stockholm, you can swim in most of the city center - except where the large ship lanes are. Thousands of people out swimming on a hot summers day.

Well now I feel compelled to make a Gothenburg-centric remark, ha ha.

I literally swam not far from the archipelago pier last weekend, and there are many swimmable lakes around the city. Since we're talking about swimming in the city, the best option is likely the brand new public spot in Frihamnen [1].

[1]: https://www.goteborg.com/en/places/the-public-pool-in-friham...

Re: Swimmable Cities

#84

Post by phaer »

welder wrote: post #72
phaer wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can swim there if you want! there's a picture with ppl swimming in Viennas canal (Donaukanal) on the website and there's a whole association around it which claims 300+ members: https://schwimmvereindonaukanal.org/ . That being said, Donauinsel is still quite close to the center and I personally prefer the relative quietness and greenery around there to swimming in the canal.

It's not so safe.. boats and currents. I prefer swimming in the pool that's floating on the canal: https://www.instagram.com/p/CiAb0gXufXx

I suppose it's less safe then a pool, but I don't think there's more current compared to the Danube and there are boats there as well.

Re: Swimmable Cities

#85

Post by welder »

phaer wrote: post #84
welder wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not so safe.. boats and currents. I prefer swimming in the pool that's floating on the canal: https://www.instagram.com/p/CiAb0gXufXx

I suppose it's less safe then a pool, but I don't think there's more current compared to the Danube and there are boats there as well.

Yea, Alte and Neu Donau are safe but Donau and Kanal... I see people do it with a balloon strapped to their waist for visibility to boats, but I wouldn't do it.

Those pontoon ferry boats travel over 30 km/h on the Kanal.

Re: Swimmable Cities

#86

Post by nenad »

jahnu wrote: post #60
tomw1808 wrote: post #57

Vienna is very swimmable. Not right now, because its cold and rainy, but on a hot summer day thousands of people gather and swim in the Danube every single day. It's amazing, the water is relatively clean, small fishes inside, its a joy for children and adults alike.

Would be nice to get the canal swimmable too. And enough water in the Wien to even contemplate it :D

Schwimm Verein Donaukanal (Swim Club Danube Canal) is one of the signatories of the Swimmable Cities movement.

According to their FAQ it is very much possible to swim in the canal under certains conditions that they mention as well.

https://schwimmvereindonaukanal.org/FAQ-en-1

Re: Swimmable Cities

#87

Post by The_Colonel »

nenad wrote: post #86
jahnu wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would be nice to get the canal swimmable too. And enough water in the Wien to even contemplate it :D

Schwimm Verein Donaukanal (Swim Club Danube Canal) is one of the signatories of the Swimmable Cities movement. According to their FAQ it is very much possible to swim in the canal under certains conditions that they mention as well. https://schwimmvereindonaukanal.org/FAQ-en-1

Yeah, but I see plenty of potential for improvement to make it more accessible. Start with the information, even many Viennese I've met don't know swimming in the canal is allowed. Putting up some signposts at places suitable for swimming would be great.

Re: Swimmable Cities

#88

Post by contrarian1234 »

lou1306 wrote: post #81
simonebrunozzi wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why you can't swim after the rain? Does the water get dirty, or else?

Since all other replies are a bit too concise, I'll try and dive deeper (ha ha). 1) Naturally, rains wash out street grime and small pieces of rubbish which may easily bypass the sewage system altogether and end up in the river. 2) Cities have systems in place to treat wastewaters before releasing them into the rivers. However, these systems need to store yet-untreated water in reservoirs, and heavy rain may fill the…

So naive question.. but how can they ensure all the water upstream is clean?

I guess in Copenhagen its water is coming from the Baltic so maybe it's less of a concern (short of container ships having issues near the city). But the Seine river flows through many communities before it reaches Paris. Many opportunities for actors to illegally dump things in the river and for all sorts of nasty runoff agricultural and otherwise to make it in periodically along the whole stretch.

Continuous water testing at the city limits also sounds impractical

Re: Swimmable Cities

#89

Post by debok »

beAbU wrote: post #22

I'm tickled by the African contact email address at the bottom of the page. "Roomys" translates to "Ice Cream" - and with Nandos being a South African fast food chain, and well known for their razor sharp marketing department, I wonder what the story is there...

I'm also incredibly curious about this. I sent them an e-mail. Let's see if they respond.

Re: Swimmable Cities

#90

Post by croes »

elric wrote: post #82
MaxDorkroom wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Are you saying €8 is not too expensive for a swim? That's an insane price. Yes, the ID thing is preventing me from entering. It's not about keeping "undocumented and migrants" out. It's allegedly about keeping troublemakers out, but it's yet another pointless deterrent. There's no need to force everyone to show an ID to enter a pool simply because of a few bad apples. I don't care about your bizarre rhetoric about "h…

Expensive maybe, but not insane.
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