The municipality of Oslo declares that the drainage system is unable to evacuate the quantities of rain. People don’t have to swim in the fjord anymore, they say.

– At the moment there is a lot of water in the drainage system in Oslo due to precipitation and melting snow. This leads to sewage flowing into rivers and fjords. The Municipality of Oslo recommends people avoid swimming in the Oslo Fjord, the municipality writes in a press release.

The municipality states that the drainage system is not designed to handle current water volumes.

– The tunnels are full and the two processing plants are operating at full capacity. Unfortunately, the system is unable to evacuate all bodies of water that lead to sewage overflows. The overflow means that sewage and rainwater are discharged into rivers and streams, writes the municipality.

Eleven active spillways were recorded on Tuesday.

They warn that the problem will persist now that snowmelt has been reported.

– An increase in temperatures is expected in the coming days, which means that the amount of snowmelt will increase. It is therefore expected that the water flow in the rivers will increase further, writes the municipality.

Oslo residents are also being warned to be careful when traveling along the Akerselva, where the Water and Sewerage Agency has increased the water flow to 15 cubic meters per second. There are huge forces at work, the agency says. (NTB)