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Swimmable Cities

swimmablecities.org

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Re: Swimmable Cities

#171

Post by bluGill »

l5870uoo9y wrote: post #104
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…

Although the outdoor swimming facilities are amazing, the swimming pools used for sports swimming are still few, small and generally overcrowded.

Pools are expensive to build and they almost always need chemicals and filters to be safe to swim in making them expensive to run. Where there are natural lakes/streams/ponds they are typically safe to swim in and much cheaper.

Which is to say anywhere pools are the primary place people swim, they will be few, small, and generally overcrowded (and also expensive). If you live where there are natural places to swim you will generally find it better, but many places don't give you those options.

Re: Swimmable Cities

#172

Post by bluGill »

AdamN wrote: post #47
matsemann wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We can also swim in Oslo, but it's threatened: * Farmers having runaway water with lots of nutrition makes algae bloom * Hotter summer also lead to more algae * More unstable climate with flash rain makes sewage seep out into the fjord when the water handling stations can't handle the flow * Fishing boats are destroying the sea bed If this isn't turned around, our nice fjord will soon be dead, and possibly not safe t…

Yeah there's this focus on cities where things are getting cleaned up but in rural areas the fertilizer and intensive agriculture makes the rivers (and fjords?) toxic. Check out the Des Moines river in Iowa. Seems absolutely insane that a rich and ostensibly well-run country like Norway isn't prioritizing health and environmental safety for its citizens.

While city folks like to blame farmers for the problems in Iowa, the soil in Iowa naturally makes nitrates which runs off into the streams after every rain. We have death reports from the early 1800s that on rereading with a modern eye make it clear that the problem was drinking water with high nitrates. This is both what makes Iowa such great farm country, and what makes streams harmful.

Not that fertilizer isn't making things worse (though sometimes it makes things better - farmers don't want their expensive fertilizer to wash away and so look for ways to keep it on the field), but it isn't the whole story.

Re: Swimmable Cities

#173

Post by jorisboris »

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…

I have the same frustration about Belgium's overregulation, especially because across the border in the Netherlands you're basically allowed to swim anywhere you want!

On a related overregulation note, I visited a playground in Leuven recently where they had to decouple the water toys because regulations requires playgrounds to use drinkable water for water toys, and the eco-warriors were against spilling drinkable water for the playground. Again in the Netherlands they just pump ground water for the water toys in playgrounds

Re: Swimmable Cities

#174

Post by CaptainZapp »

jajko wrote: post #64
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…

In Geneva, apart from being able to swim in the massive Geneva lake (100km long, crystal clear like most seas), one can swim portions of Rhone that flows out of the lake. The only exceptions are places where it can drown you or chop you up quickly due to some water constructs (for lack of better words). Its also quite popular to hop on some inflatable boat or mattress once its safe, just before Jonction [1] which is…

> Zurich has very similar situation, just way more restricted for free lake swimming.

Why restricted? With very few exceptions (i.e. path to and from emergency services) you can hop anywhere into the lake.

I'd advise caution at some places (i.e piers where passenger ships dock) but else than that you can just hop in, wherever you like.

At least, within city limits.

Re: Swimmable Cities

#175

Post by rascul »

j_m_b wrote: post #144

In the US, we've essentially banned swimming outside of a few lifeguard-monitored zones. There are no swimming signs everywhere and in places you wouldn't otherwise think should be banned, such as public lakes or beaches. People still do swim in these areas, but I remember a squad of cop cars showing up at Lake Artemesia near UMD because a woman was gasp swimming in the lake.

In the US, I find swimming holes all over the place without lifeguards and without swimming restrictions. I guess it depends on the area.

Re: Swimmable Cities

#176

Post by macNchz »

jajko wrote: post #64
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…

In Geneva, apart from being able to swim in the massive Geneva lake (100km long, crystal clear like most seas), one can swim portions of Rhone that flows out of the lake. The only exceptions are places where it can drown you or chop you up quickly due to some water constructs (for lack of better words). Its also quite popular to hop on some inflatable boat or mattress once its safe, just before Jonction [1] which is…

It wasn’t always the case that the lake was clean and swimmable—as a kid in the 90s I remember it as kind of a “new thing” to be able to, since it had been polluted for decades and people came to prefer the public pools.

Re: Swimmable Cities

#177

Post by macNchz »

aqme28 wrote: post #73

I always think about how different NYC would be if you could swim in the Hudson and East river. Pollution robs us of so much

Generally I think it is actually pretty much safe unless it has rained heavily recently. The last time I looked at the data, much of the harbor and Hudson have bacteria counts that are consistently within the safe-for-bathing parameters. The East River is the most polluted, however it also has strong and changing currents that make it less interesting for swimming.

Ultimately I think there’s just kind of a general inertia against it—a public perception that the water is gross (as it certainly was for generations), lack of facilities to easily enter the water, and a city government that’s not especially interested in promoting it, probably for liability reasons primarily.

Personally I’d love to see the Central Park reservoir made into a swimming place. As I understand it, it’s never actually used as a reservoir anymore and would be perfect for swimming if they built an entry point. Instead they arrest people who get in.

Re: Swimmable Cities

#179

Post by jahnu »

phaer wrote: post #66
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

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.

Hah! I never knew that and so far only ever seen drunk people in there.

Re: Swimmable Cities

#180

Post by jahnu »

The_Colonel wrote: post #87
nenad wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I would bet most have no idea.
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