2016 Rio Olympic Sailing Regatta – Pollution update and water quality

by Alastair Fox, ISAF on 5 Nov 2015 At the time of the Rio 2016 bid in 2008 the Rio authorities had committed to use the Olympic Games as a trigger to improve the water quality of Guanabara Bay by 80%.

Since 2012 ISAF has been working with Rio 2016 and the IOC to ensure a safe and fair Field of Play for the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition. The Aquece Rio 2014 International Regatta was a success from an organisation point of view but highlighted many concerns over pollution in Guanabara Bay.

Water Quality Task Force
Following the Aquece Rio 2014 International Regatta ISAF stepped up the pressure with the Brazilian authorities and a Water Quality Task Force was established to define the critical actions required and to ensure the delivery of all of the action points to ensure the athletes were safe and that there would be fair racing. The Water Quality Task Force includes the State Secretary of Environment, the Municipal Secretary of Environment, the State Company of Water and Sewage, Municipal Company of Waste Management, The Rio Governor’s Office and the Municipal Water Company. This task force meets monthly with the Rio 2016 management teams. At the end of 2014 and in early 2015, ISAF worked closely with Rio 2016, the IOC and the task office to ensure all possible measures are undertaken to improve the water pollution in Guanabara Bay. Below were a series of concerns and action points:

Marina da Gloria

The water quality within Marina da Gloria suffers from high concentration loads of bacteria over multiple occasions of the year, mostly due to the sewage discharges into the Marina. The construction of the sewage belt around the Marina will improve this situation, avoiding direct sewage discharge into the Marina. The plan is for the sewage belt to be completed at the end of 2015. ISAF wanted the work finished before the Aquece Rio 2015 International Regatta but this was not possible. To reduce the water quality problem during this test event it was agreed that bioremediation products would have to be used to reduce the bacteria concentrations, and thus improving at the same time the oxygen concentration.

Beach Launching Area (Flamengo)

According to the beach bathing bulletins published by the State Environment Institute the water quality at Flamengo Beach does not fall within the Brazilian standards during the majority of the year. The Government has stated that the Sena Limpa Programme has the potential to solve this issue, but the programme has yet to commence and the last reports on water quality published by State Environment Institute do not mention the possible dates to start and complete this strategy.

Pão de Açúcar, Escola Naval and Ponte course areas

In order to improve the water quality and reduce the amount of physical objects within the Guanabara Bay, the Government intends to:

Close illegal landfills and create and open new facilities, following the Brazilian standards, around the bay;
Open and operate eight new ecob arriers (in addition to the 11 already open – although one of these 11 is not currently functional);
Daily operations of eco boats for collecting floating waste;
Create river treatment units;
Open new sewage treatment plants and expand the existent sewage network close to the bay area.

Copacabana and Niteroi sailing course areas

The water quality within the Copacabana and Niteroi course area is much better than within the Guanabara Bay as they are located within the open sea. These water quality in these race areas are consistently below the Brazilian water quality standards.

Other Inititaves

Following this review with Rio 2016, ISAF formally requested an additional race course area, Pai, to be created outside of Guanabara Bay in order to give ISAF more fexibility on the choice of course areas used during the Aquece Rio 2015 International Regatta and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Aquece Rio 2015 International Regatta
At the Aquece Rio 2015 International Regatta ISAF appointed Dr Nebojša Nikoli?, ISAF Medical Commission member, and Pedro Rodrigues, ISAF Events Committee Member, to work with ISAF on all issues relating to pollution.

This test event was a success and the full report from Dr Nebojša Nikoli? can be seen at the end of this report. From a race management point of view, Pedro Rodriguez worked closely with the Rio 2016 event organisers and Nino Shmueli, the ISAF PRO, to ensure the course areas were clear of physical objects in the water that could affect racing. During the test event there was one day of rainfall and on the following day it was clear that there were more physical objects in the water on the Ponte course area. The Nacra 17s raced on the Ponte course area that day but it was clear that the water quality was not good. The following day the 470s were scheduled to race on the Ponte course but their racing was moved outside of Guanabara Bay to ensure they did not race on the more polluted course area. There was no wind outside the Bay and so later in the day the 470s were moved to the Escola Naval course area where they had a good, fair race.

Following the 2015 test event ISAF has requested another course area inside Guanabara Bay, the Aerrporto course area, to give even more flexibility for the race management team.

Next Steps
Following the two test events, feedback from MNAs, sailors, race officials and the ISAF Medical Commission the following actions will be taken for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games:

Monitor the impact of the Marina da Gloria sewage pipe to ensure the water quality improves once it has been completed.
Conduct more testing of the Flamengo Beach launching area and ensure the water quality improves.
Continually monitor the course areas for water quality.
Monitor the progress of closing down landfill sites, increasing the numbers of eco barriers, etc.
Work with Rio 2016 on a heavy rainfall contingency plan to ensure a clean and fair field of play.
Work with the ISAF Medical Commission to publish clear advice to MNAs, sailors, coaches and race officials.
Work with Rio 2016 to ensure the improve shower and hygiene facilities for all athletes, coaches and race officials.
Finalise a competition schedule that is flexible, with spare course areas inside and outside of Guanabara Bay.