Reason for Linden pool dysfunction dismissed by ward councillor
Nicole van Dyk says load-shedding cannot justify the municipal pool being closed for five months.
Following complaints that the Linden swimming pool is unusable due to low temperatures, City of Johannesburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said work is being carried out to fix the water heating system.
Shandre Bridle, who owns We Swim 4 Life, says she has lost up to 70% of her clients over the past five months because of this.
“The water temperature is sitting at 23°C and not the desired 27°C due to the heating system being negatively affected by load-shedding. The procurement process is ongoing and once completed the issue will be resolved,” said Modingoane.
Asked about the facility only operating during the week, he said, “Due to extreme cold weather conditions and small numbers of visitors a management decision was taken to curtail opening hours until August 31.”
Ward 99 cCouncillor Nicole van Dyk said in response, “The city is being extremely vague offering no tangible updates. Load-shedding is not the real issue; it is a broken heat exchanger. We are still yet to get an answer of when it will be fixed, and the supply chain process once again fails as it has now been five months.
“Load-shedding is going nowhere, and we have had it solidly day in and day out for a year now. How have they not made plans to survive it?
“The city officials dealing with this matter need to give answers with timeframes and future preventive measures.”
Due to the cold temperature of the water, local businesses that teach swimming classes there have been unable to operate.
Modingoane said, “There are 57 city swimming pools across its seven regions and load-shedding is also affecting filtration systems which causes breakdowns in equipment that puts additional pressure on the maintenance budget.
“We are doing our best to keep as many pools as possible open.”
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Linden swimming pool unusable as heating systems left broken for five months
