RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Helicopters were up at daybreak spotting rubbish flows at the Olympic sailing venue, with boats below collecting the debris.
Dozens of barricades damned up streams that flushed garbage into the bay. They caught waterlogged sofas, Styrofoam cups and deflated soccer balls.
A sewer pipe at Marina da Gloria stopped raw sewage from being pumped into the harbor where Olympic boats were moored.
Rio de Janeiro’s water remains filthy as the Olympics wrap up, even after a final push to clean up the water for the world’s largest sporting event. Fans were reminded by the stench from a lagoon contaminated with raw sewage that abuts the Olympic Park.
Long after the athletes and fans leave, the city will continue to struggle with water teeming with bacteria and viruses.