Fri 22 Dec 17
The latest efforts to repair the Taumarunui Pool and have it open before the New Year have not stopped the water loss enough to allow this to happen.
Property Team Leader Rebecca van Orden said that Council staff were absolutely gutted that the recent repairs have not completely fixed the leaking to a point that would have allowed us to open it.
We have been methodically around the whole pool and fixed every visible leak however the on-going water loss is from an area that is not readily detectable, she said.
The repairs we have just done has slowed the water loss but unfortunately not enough.
Everyone feels really bad about the situation as we have had so many people wishing us luck and asking when it might be open.
The plan now is to let the pool drain down until it stops to help us identify where the possible leak area might be.
Mrs van Orden noted that it was not possible to just keep topping the pool up to compensate for the water it was losing to allow it to open.
Before we can open the pool we need to chlorinate the water and if the pool is leaking that chlorinated water is leaking into the water table and surrounding waterways.
The pool is still leaking at a level at which this would be harmful to aquatic life in those ecosystems.
Mrs van Orden said that at this stage the best we can say is that we will be working to get the pool open before the end of January and schools go back.
People can be assured that we are not going to give up, she said.
In the interim Council will be subsidising entry into the indoor pool up at the High School like we did last summer.
