Blackpill Lido is open again, five days after water quality problems shut Swansea’s free seafront pool in the middle of the school holidays.
Swansea Council announced the reopening on Wednesday, telling families the pool “and local businesses are ready to welcome you back from today”.
The council thanked people for their patience “while we fixed the water quality issues”, the first time it has described the problems as fixed.
What the testing found has still not been said. The pool closed on Friday, with the council saying tests showed the need for a slight improvement. On Monday it said readings were improving but families would have to wait a little longer.
The timing is kind for once. The council says the forecast is looking good for the week, the school holidays are in their fourth week, and thousands of teenagers collect A-level results on Thursday.
Every open day matters at a pool that has had precious few of them, in a season that has been one long interruption.
The lido opened on 14 July, the latest start anyone could remember, after thieves stole its replacement sprinklers in May before they could even be fitted.
A brief spell in use ended when the specialist flooring came away and the pool was drained on a 30C half-term day, with families turned away at the gate.
It stayed shut through June’s heatwave while both faults were fixed, reopened in mid-July, and lasted less than four weeks before the water closed it again.
In all, the free pool has now lost five days of the school summer holidays, on top of the half a summer gone before it opened at all.
When open, the lido runs 9am to 5pm daily until the end of September, free and with no booking, alongside a paddling pool, children’s play area, climbing rock and the Junction Café.
For families working out where tomorrow’s results day ends up, the seafront has its pool back.
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