City of Joburg resolves pool chemical shortages

16 January 2018

 

The City of Johannesburg has apologised for the inconvenience caused by the closure of some of its pools due to a shortage of chemicals. 

 

Of the 55 City pools, 20 had to be closed due to the shortage, leaving about 35 pools open to the public. The closure occurred during the hottest days in the City.

“Even more regrettable was the fact that this persisted throughout the holiday season, which is when a lot of families have visitors from other parts of the country, and want to show off what the beautiful City of Joburg has to offer,” said Member of the Mayoral Committee for Nonhlanhla Sifumba.

She said the pools will be treated and opened to the public within the next few days.

“I would also like to reassure the residents that the City’s current administration is committed to ensuring that this shortage of chemicals never happens again. This administration is serious about offering a professional service to the people of Johannesburg,” said MMC Sifumba.

The City of Joburg has the largest number of pools than any other municipality in South Africa. All other metropolitan municipalities have less than 30 pools. The City of Joburg boasts more than 55 pools of varying sizes and functionality. The pools in the City range from Olympic to regional-sized pools. The pools are also old and require constant maintenance, which was neglected by previous administrations.

Not all the pools that were closed due to chemical shortage. Some were closed for, among others, maintenance of filtration systems, electrical faults due to cable theft, electrical down times, burst pipes and leakages. The state of infrastructure in some of the aged swimming pools also exacerbated the issue of closed swimming pools. Two of the pools that were closed due to this are Pioneer Park and Rhodes Park, which are more than 60 years old.

The City conducted site visits to the pools before the swimming season to ensure the readiness of the pools. Consequently, for the first time in the history of the City, more than 90% of the pools were ready and functional by 1 September 2017.

The swimming season for the City is from 1 September to 31 March. To make up for the time residents lost during the closure of the pools, the City will extend the swimming season until the end of April.