For the first time in more than a decade, Rio de Janeiro beaches are safe for swimming.
The coastline of Brazil’s seaside city has been plagued with raw sewage, industrial pollution, and rubbish for years.
Guanabara Bay with its iconic views of Sugarloaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer, has been hardly hit.
However, a massive clean-up operation is finally changing that.
Water testing, sanitation initiatives, and favorable weather conditions have now transformed the waters into a pristine playground for beach lovers.
In 2021, Rio state authorities privatized the region’s failing water and sanitation service Cedae. Now Aguas do Rio owns it. It has been working to prevent dumping unthreatened sewage on the city beaches.
Under a five-year plan with a promised 2.7 billion reais (€508 million) investment, the company has managed to turn over years of failed clean-up programs.
It has installed new pumping systems, revitalized the city sewage systems, and diverted the polluted Rio Carioca river flowing into Guanabara Bay to an interceptor that prevents rubbish and sewage from reaching the beach.
It has also removed hundreds of tonnes of waste from the interceptor to increase its flow and drainage capacity. Parts of it had not been cleaned since its construction 50 years ago.
In the past, entire beaches have been deemed unsuitable to swim in. Now all beaches have swimmable sections.
Rio’s State Government puts the improvement down to recent sanitation works and a lack of rain in recent days.