Rio De Janeiro image of long beaches and blue waters could get a nasty jolt from our old friend “reality” if Brazil doesn’t deal with its epic water pollution problem before the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

The future Olympic Park is steeping in a disgusting stew; putrid green waters, and garbage both floating and submerged choking Guanabara Bay to death. Nearly 70 percent of Rio's sewage goes untreated, meaning that runoff from its many favelas and poor neighborhoods drain into waters soon to host some of the world's best athletes.  The problem is compounded by waste from shipyards and two commercial ports as well as leachate, the toxic byproduct of mountains of rotting trash sitting at what was South America's largest landfill until its closure last year.

Rowing and canoeing events are set to take place on the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, which often experiences huge fish die-offs that leave its surface blanketed with tons of dead fish.

Ecology professor Ricardo Freitas has been trying to preserve the population Rio’s urban Caimans, a relative of the crocodile, in the same waters.  He suffered a severe infection in what he thought was a very minor skin puncture.

“There's no way to work in these waters, where you are literally neck deep in feces in some places, and not be afraid of the health effects,” he said.

Rio's Olympic committee has pledged in writing that the pollution problems will be fixed.  But the cleanup is moving at a snail's pace and hasn't significantly improved the capacity of sewage treatment plants.

“If I were going to take part, I would make sure all my shots were up to date,” said University of Massachusetts environmental engineering professor Dr. Casey Brown.