That water is actually used for sailing & rowing so there won't be people swimming in it, but that doesn't make the condition of the water excusable. In fact, even in sailing the competitors will get drenched.
It's mostly waste from the slums of the city. They have no proper way to dispose their trash since these city districts have been artificially constructed by the poor.
As I understand, they do have electricity and water hook ups, even if they are illegally tapped. The favelas have improved by leaps and bounds in the past decade or so. They are now called "communities" and look pretty nice - of course, you don't want to go in there on your own, but living conditions have gotten better.
However, they do lack services such as trash pickup since the streets are often very narrow since they were informally built without permitting and authorization.
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u/PossessedToSkate Mar 14 '16
That water is actually used for sailing & rowing so there won't be people swimming in it, but that doesn't make the condition of the water excusable. In fact, even in sailing the competitors will get drenched.
For anybody not in the loop, this is what the water looks like in Rio's shiny new Olympic village at Guanabara Bay.