Poo, Pam put pools out of action

A ''code brown'' at Moana Pool was one of an unlikely series of events which took Dunedin's main public pools out of action yesterday.

As staff were dealing with faeces in the leisure pool at Moana Pool, big swells generated by Cyclone Pam combined with high tides to flood the St Clair Hot Salt Water Pool.

Council aquatic services manager Paulien Leijnse said the two incidents, combined with the National Division II Swimming Championships being held at Moana Pool, meant people looking for a ''leisurely'' swim needed to travel to either Mosgiel or Port Chalmers.

Ms Leijnse said the diarrhoea in the leisure pool just before noon was not connected to the ''serial pooper'' at Invercargill's Splash Palace Aquatic Centre.

The culprit in this case had been confirmed as someone who had a ''tummy bug'', she said.

''We don't have a serial [pooper]. That has happened in the past, but they have been caught.''

The council tweeted the pool would be closed until 7pm yesterday after a ''code brown''.

Large waves from the second high tide of the day pour into the St Clair  Hot Salt Water Pool...
Large waves from the second high tide of the day pour into the St Clair Hot Salt Water Pool yesterday. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.
Meanwhile, large waves generated from Cyclone Pam pounding over the sea wall from 4pm on Thursday flooded the heated outdoor salt water pool, and returned again yesterday afternoon at 3pm.

Staff spent yesterday cleaning up and preparing the pool for yesterday afternoon's high tide, after arriving yesterday morning to discover the pool's covers disturbed, tables shoved aside and seaweed and rubbish floating inside the overflowing pool.

''You couldn't see when you came in where the pool starts.''

The force of the waves had broken a window on a door to the pool's plant room. Staff checked the facility to ensure electrical equipment had not been damaged, Ms Leijnse said.

The cost of the damage and clean-up was expected to be small, but lost revenue would increase the total. 

The pool would remain closed today, and could be again tomorrow, depending on conditions, she said.

Pool manager Paul Swanson said big swells flooded the pool ''every three or four years''.

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