Courtesy of SwimBiz.

SwimBiz reports that the open water swimmers at the 2015 FINA World Swimming Championships may have to deal with more than the world’s most competitive field in the world’s most competitive race of 2015.

Reportedly, the river Kazanka that flows through the city and will be used for the open water competitions is highly polluted. According to local surveys reported on prokazan.ru, 60-90% of individuals may be impacted by the pollution levels in the river.

The problem of pollution in the river are due to the malfunctioning of sewage treatment plants and the quantities of ammonium and manganese are 20 times higher than the allowable limit in the industrial area. This is not surprising for Kazan, an important Russian center for a number of chemical, petrochemical and energy companies.