The pools are a welcome respite from the heat

THE City marked the start of the swimming season by opening 44 out of its 56 public pools, on the first day of spring.

With temperatures reaching 30°C and higher, pools are a welcome refuge from the heat. The 44 were opened on 1 September, traditionally the first day of spring. "We ensured that each region of the City had swimming pools that were accessible to every one in the community," said Virgil James, the City's spokesperson.

Each year the City closes its public pools for the winter, when general repairs and maintenance work is carried out.

"Each pool had its own problem, some bigger than others. Some needed little repairs like replacing falling tiles or walls caving in; those were easy to repair and open."

The 12 public pools that have not yet been opened are still undergoing repairs and maintenance; they include Vrededorp, Newville in Region B, Verity Park in Parkhurst, Kensington, Florida Lake, Florida North, Alexandra, Crown Gardens, Yeoville, Eldorado Park and Murray Park in Region F.

"The reasons for not opening these pools at the same time as the others vary from replacing of pipes, electrical repairs and things like filtration systems to structural challenges."

Ten of them will open in mid-September; Murray Park and Florida North pools will open in the first week of November as there is major structural damage that will take longer to repair.

Qualified seasonal workers were employed to help permanent staff with the repairs. "In terms … of maintenance and repairs, we had to evaluate what the problems at each pool were and see if community members could deal with the problem or if the City had to look for external assistance from construction companies and so forth," James explained.

Safety
Realising that the hotter it gets the more crowed the pools will become, the City is stressing the safety message. "We have at least one lifeguard per pool ensuring safety for the children who will be swimming there. We cannot emphasise the need for safety at all times enough, be it at a private or public swimming pool."

It's spring and the City's swimming pools are now open

James explained that not all children who would be using the pools knew how to swim and that the emergency management services (EMS) had been brought on board to deal with safety campaigns during the summer.

"Under the campaign Be Safe, the EMS will teach children how to swim and teach them about fire disasters and road safety."

Joburg has also pleaded with parents to supervise children, even those who can swim. Safety tips include installing fences around pools or safety nets over pools and ponds, constantly checking to see that open water is secured, never leaving children unattended near water and looking before jumping into the water.

Entrance into public pools is R2,50 for children and R8 for adults. All pools are open from 9am to 5pm daily. In cases of emergency, call the emergency management services on 10177 or 011 375 5911.

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