Mystery of bright green water in Venice’s Grand Canal solved

Environmental activists turned out to be “out of business”

The mystery of why Venice’s Grand Canal turned fluorescent green has been solved. Local authorities claim that the color transformation of the water was due to fluorescein, a substance used to test sewage treatment networks.

The spectacular transformation of a section of Venice’s Grand Canal near Italy’s famous Rialto Bridge to fluorescent green was due to fluorescein, a non-toxic substance used to test sewer networks, local authorities have concluded.

According to The Guardian, citing Agence France-Press, locals noticed that a section of Venice’s Grand Canal had turned bright green on Sunday, prompting police to investigate amid speculation that it could have been a stunt by environmentalists.

Italy’s fire service released a video on Sunday showing one of its boats sailing through phosphorescent waters. “The Grand Canal, painted green, is what the fire department found this morning when we intervened together with ARPAV (Regional Agency for the Prevention and Protection of the Environment of the Veneto Region – “MK”) to collect samples and analyze this abnormal color,” the message says.

The prefect of Venice has convened an emergency meeting of the police forces to sort out what happened and explore possible countermeasures, the ANSA news agency reported.

But the analysis showed “the presence of fluorescein in the samples taken,” according to ARPAV.

The results “did not show the presence of toxic elements in the samples analyzed,” the agency said, without specifying the origin of the substance.

The color change seen by residents has raised eyebrows, and police are investigating whether Sunday’s event could have been a protest by climate change activists, according to local daily newspaper La Nuova Venezia.

The fact is that the current incident echoes recent episodes in Italy, when environmental groups painted monuments. However, unlike previous cases, no activist group has issued a statement of responsibility for what happened in Venice.

Last week, environmental activists climbed Rome’s Trevi Fountain and poured a black liquid made from diluted vegetable charcoal into its water.

A group of about 10 people also stood inside the fountain holding a sign that read “We won’t pay for fossil fuels,” a reference to the campaign to end government investment and fossil fuel subsidies.

And in March, activists sprayed orange paint on the walls of the Palazzo Vecchio, home to Florence’s town hall, in a bid to highlight the need to tackle the climate crisis.

In any case, this is not the first time that the Grand Canal in Venice has turned green. In 1968, Argentine artist Nicolás García Uriburu painted the waters of Venice’s Grand Canal green with fluorescent paint during the 34th Venice Biennale to raise environmental awareness.