BLACKPILL LIDO: Pool still shut, but council says water is improving and hopes to reopen this week

Swansea Council says recent water quality tests at the free seafront pool have improved, but more testing and other measures are needed before families can go back.

Swansea Bay News
3 Min Read
Aerial view of the drained Blackpill Lido, fenced off with hazard tape and traffic cones, the rainbow-coloured surround empty apart from a few people by the kiosk.
Blackpill Lido stands empty and cordoned off, its pool drained and the splash features dry.

Blackpill Lido is still closed, and will stay closed for at least a few more days.

Swansea Council says water quality testing has improved since the pool shut on Friday, but not enough to reopen.

“Water quality tests carried out recently have shown improvement, but we aren’t quite there yet,” the council said.

Further testing and what it calls other measures are needed first. It hopes to reopen later this week.

“We’re sorry to say Blackpill Lido is still closed and appreciate this will be frustrating for many families and visitors,” the council said, apologising again for the inconvenience.

It is the fourth week of the school holidays, and the free pool has been shut for four days of them.

The lido closed on Friday for the third time this season, with the council saying testing had shown “the need for a slight improvement” in water quality. No detail has been given since about what the tests found.

Water quality closures at outdoor pools are usually about bacterial readings or filtration, and are routine enough that they rarely last long. What is unusual here is the timing, on a pool that has already lost most of its season.

Families have had little of it all summer. The pool only opened for the season on 14 July, the latest start anyone could remember, after repairs kept it drained through the spring and two heatwaves.

Its problems started in May, when thieves took the pool’s replacement sprinklers days before the planned bank holiday opening, before they had even been fitted.

A brief spell in use followed, then 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 the council worked on both faults, finally reopening in the middle of July.

Cllr Andrew Williams, cabinet member for development, thanked families then for their patience and said the council had been as frustrated as anyone.

Less than four weeks later it was shut again.

When it is 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.

Author

Swansea Bay News

Reporting from the Swansea Bay News newsroom.


Discover more from Swansea Bay News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Share This Article

Reporting from the Swansea Bay News newsroom.

Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply