With winter officially here swimmers at Retreat indoor pool are feeling the cold and after they lodged a formal complaint with the City of Cape Town about the icy temperature of the water, the City has agreed to attend to the problem.
“Seems like every year this time we sit with this problem since the pool was opened,” he said.
Parent Zuneid Abrahams removed his children from one of the swimming clubs because of the temperatures.
“The water is too cold and my children are freezing while they’re in the pool and when they leave after a training session. The low temperatures have also made them sick in the past. There have been so many issues with this swimming pool since before the upgrade. I hope they can fix this soon because winter is here but we would still like our children to train and swim. There’s lots of potential and the next Olympian could truly come from Retreat pool but not under such circumstances,” said Mr Abrahams.
Zahid Badroodien, Mayco member for community services and health, said the heaters at the pool had been broken up until 2017.
“While the work to enclose the pool was being completed, the heaters were not operational,” he said, adding that when the pool was reopened in 2017, the heat pumps were serviced and in working order.
“However, feedback from regular aquatic club users that the water has remained cold despite the setting on the temperature gauge reading 35°C, has necessitated a reassessment of the system to heat the pool water,” he said.
Based on technical assessments the issue seems to be with the insulation used to retain the heat in the pool once pumped. “An upgrade of the technology or possible installation of an additional heat pump may help to raise the temperature of the water,” he said.
A contractor has been identified and funding has been sourced to complete the necessary repairs to the heating system.
The work is expected to start this month and to cost about R170 000.
Mr Badroodien said the department encouraged professional swimmers and members of aquatic clubs to use the platforms available through their organisational structures to raise complaints when their performance was affected.
“This will enable us to give the latest feedback quickly, and keep accurate records of user experience in the water which will aid in implementing the best solution,” he said.