Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

TOURISM

Oslo warns against swimming after huge sewage discharge

Oslo municipality has warned citizens not to swim in some of the city's favourite bathing spots after 130m litres of contaminated water was washed into the Oslofjord.

Published: 1 September 2023 16:48 CEST

Oslo Municipality has warned against swimming in sea swimming spots on the Oslofjord. Photo: Nikolai Kobets Freund / Oslo kommune

In a post on its website, the municipality warned against swimming at Hovedøya, Gressholmen, Lindøya, Bleikøya, Bekkelagsbadet, Sørenga, Bispekilen and outside the Oslo Opera House

“With the rainy weather last weekend, there has been a discharge of contaminated waste water,” Jean-Yves Manum Gallardo, from the Oslo Municipal Water and Sewage Administration, told the NTB newswire. “Swimming in the sea in the innermost part of the Oslofjord and on the islands is therefore not recommended this weekend.”

The sewage spill happened when a major pipe was destroyed during heavy rain over the weekend, after which 130m litres of untreated sewage flowed into the Alnaeleva river and then on into the Oslofjord.

“It is quite intense. We have never experienced the equivalent of what happened to the system in the Water and Sewerage Agency,” Frode Hult, emergency manager at the Water and Sewage Administration, told public broadcaster NRK.

In a press release, the administration said that the leak had been repaired, but that there was still some sewage being discharged into the river and into the fjord.

The municipality expects to keep the recommendation not to swim in place until Wednesday at the earliest.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

'I live here, unfortunately': Visit Oslo's new video ad reveals Norwegian humour

A recent video ad featuring Norway’s capital by VisitOSLO, the official marketing organisation for Oslo and the surrounding regions, has been attracting considerable attention on social media.

READ MORE: One day in Oslo: How to spend 24 hours in the Norwegian capital

Featuring the dry, understated humour typical of Norway, the ad stands out by not trying too hard to sell the city’s charms but instead offering an ironically halfhearted endorsement from a local.

A unique tour of Oslo

The ad’s protagonist, 31-year-old Oslo resident Halfdan, gives viewers a tour of his city through a lens of gentle mockery.

“I wouldn’t come here, to be honest,” he begins with a deadpan expression, setting the tone for the entire ad, before adding ‘I temporarily live here… unfortunately’.

As he wanders through the streets, he continues, “Oslo is just not… I mean, is it even a city, you know what I mean? Everything is just so… Available, you know? There’s no exclusiveness.”

His commentary highlights Oslo’s accessibility and small-town vibe, a contrast to the exclusivity often boasted by larger international capitals.

Halfdan also playfully jabs at the city’s cultural scene: “Culture? I don’t know. If you don’t have to stand in line for a couple of hours, is it even worth seeing?”

Standing in front of Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream, he quips, “It’s not exactly the Mona Lisa.”

And he also takes a dig at the locals who swim in Oslo’s fairly pristine waters. “It’s disgusting,” he says.

Reactions on Twitter

The ad has sparked a flurry of reactions on Twitter, showcasing that it resonated with audiences.

One user praised the ad’s cleverness: “This is pretty great. If people don’t ‘get it,’ they don’t deserve to go.”

Others echoed this sentiment with comments like “A city is also its attitude. And the choice of narrative in this ad says it so well” and “I want to visit Oslo now, haha.”

However, amidst the praises, some users pointed to Oslo’s high prices as an obstacle, with one noting, “Good ad. Except. It’s just LUDICROUSLY expensive. Like, laughably, impossibly so.”

Another added, “He got his table at that restaurant so easily because those three pieces of asparagus will cost him 50 US dollars.”

Url copied to clipboard!