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The main swimming pool at the Whyalla Recreation Centre will be re-opened on Wednesday.
The City of Whyalla was aiming to have the 25m pool open again on Friday, February 23 but Council crews and contractors have put in the hard yards and will now have it available for use on Wednesday, February 21.
The re-opening marks the end of months of back-breaking and investigative work by council crews and contractors to locate a leak in one of the supporting pipes of the pool. The company that built the pool in the 1970s is no longer in existence and the plans were unable to be found.
Upon locating the leak, it was decided to bypass that particular pipe to prevent an even longer disruption to pool availability. It still took a mammoth effort to find the necessary pipe to complete the bypass work as it was buried deep in the ground under tonnes of concrete.
Council CEO Chris Cowley said it was an unfortunate fact that this work needed to be done in the drier summer months to ensure adequate drainage and drying of the surrounding earth around the works.
“We’d like to thank the centre members, users of the pool and the community for their patience as we tackled this tricky problem,” Mr Cowley said.
“It was an enormous task physically and logistically to first locate the leak, then work out a way to bypass it and finally find the necessary pipe to do the work.”
“Our crews and contractors have spent many hours on this issue and should be congratulated for solving a tremendously complex problem.
“At the end of the day, we realise that people just wanted to have the pool back and this is why we’ve thrown so many resources at this problem simply caused by the age of the pool.
“We just glad the pool is back up and running and we encourage everyone to utilise it or, even better, become members at the recreation centre to enjoy all the facilities there.”
There will be temporary fencing around external pipes at one end of the pool until these are boxed in. The steps in Lane 1 won’t be available until a nearby area has fresh concrete put down.
YMCA Whyalla Recreation Centre manager Kimberley Nitschke added her thanks for the patience shown by patrons and gave a special mention to the crews and contractors who worked so hard on the problem.
All regular services not involving the main pool were maintained during the work.
“Our members have been really supportive and appreciative of the situation with the main pool,” Kimberley said.
“We like to thank them for their patience and understanding.
“A special mention must go to the workers who tackled this problem, they were effectively working blind and have done an amazing job.
“We are now looking forward to continuing all our regular programs like aqua fitness water aerobics, school swimming classes, and general use of the pool.”
As of Monday February 25, YMCA Swimming Lessons will return to full capacity with previously postponed classes being back up and running.
Aqua Fitness is held on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10.15am and at 6pm on Tuesday evenings. The pool is open Monday to Thursday from 6am to 9pm and 6am to 8pm on Fridays. On Saturdays it is open 9am to 5pm, Sundays 10am to 5pm and public holidays 12 noon to 5pm.
Check with the centre for any other information and times on 8645 5488 or visit www.whyalla.ymca.org.au
Pictured: The main pool today (Tuesday, February 20) as final cleaning was being conducted and the pipes at the end of the pool that will be covered up for safety and aesthetic reasons.