Councils unite to make Yarra River swimmable by 2050

As Melbourne sets it sights on a cleaner future for the Yarra River, local councils are looking to Europe for inspiration.

Four Melbourne councils and Melbourne Water have united to push for the Yarra River, also known as the Birrarung, to become swimmable by 2050.

Last year, the River Seine opened for public swimming for the first time since 1923 after huge restoration efforts that took place for the Paris Olympics.

City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece said progress abroad was encouraging.

"We have seen the way other cities around the world have done just this; Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen," he said.

"The Seine River in Paris has had over 1,000 years of people dumping sewerage and waste in it.

"They've managed to clean that river up and make it swimmable."

A long swimming history

Since colonisation, Melburnians enjoyed the Yarra River for leisure, and it was used by local First Nations people long before that.

In 1918, the world high diving record was broken when Alick Wickham dove from the cliffs at Fairfield into the Yarra River as more than 60,000 people watched from below.

But industrialisation and a booming population badly degraded the city's waterway, with swimming eventually banned across much of the river.

Before it was forbidden, June Noble swam in the river as part of the Race to Prince's Bridge three-mile swim in 1955.

"I didn't do much preparation; I just thought that the river would take me down and it was a very exciting day really," she said.

"There certainly was a good crowd of spectators as we went down the river."

The 92-year-old now lives in Alice Springs but spent her childhood swimming and competing in races at the Brighton Baths.

She said her dad encouraged her to take up swimming with the hope that she would be the first woman to complete the English Channel crossing.

"It's not the same as going down the Yarra River, three miles or so, but at least I did that for him," she laughed.

"I think people would love to have an event like that to look forward to now because we're such a swimming-focused nation."

Big task ahead

Rowers and boaters are often to be seen using the waterway, but swimming was restricted from the 1960s due to pollution and contamination.

The newly-formed group of councils along with Melbourne Water believe the Yarra will be swimmable once again, but acknowledges there is still a lot of work to do.

"It's at least a 10-year project," Mr Reece said.

"We're going to have to look at upgrading water infrastructure and filtration systems."

Animal faecal matter, litter and petrochemicals are frequent contaminants in the river, chair of Melbourne Water Pat McCafferty said.

"We're a fair way south of the safety levels for swimming ... but it is achievable,"

Mr McCafferty said.

"There'll be treatment process, things like wetlands as well that naturally clean up the water, so there's all sorts of different mitigations that can be put in place."

In some sections of the river, such as the Kew stretch, E. coli levels can sit about 25 times higher than safe levels for swimming, according to Melbourne Water.

The project is yet to be costed, with more investigation needed into what measures to implement to restore the waterway.

Once restoration and mitigation measures are in place, there are plans to identify locations along the river for designated swimming zones, which the public will have input into.