Cape Town - With the Western Cape far from out of the woods with regards to the crippling drought, and summer temperatures set to soar into the 30s, the Muizenberg public swimming pools are among the 17 facilities open this festive season.
The facilities at Muizenberg boast their own fresh water source.
"More than 1.5 million people use the City’s public swimming pools annually and, with water conservation still a priority, the Recreation and Parks Department has put plans in place to open 17 of the 35 municipal swimming pools during the peak summer season," the City of Cape Town's safety and security chief JP Smith said.
"In addition, the department has cemented its commitment to conserving water and has started implementing plans to reduce the dependency on potable water to maintain the swimming pools."
With this in mind, the City is continually looking at innovative ways of conserving water while still providing quality amenities to help residents cool off during the summer heat, it said in a statement.
"Initially, the plan was to draw salt water as an alternative water source for the Muizenberg pool, but drilling for a well point resulted in finding good quality fresh water instead, which will also be used for irrigation," Smith said.
The City of Cape Town has sourced fresh water to top up Muizenberg's swimming pool. Picture: Supplied/City of Cape Town
An additional well point was drilled to serve the purpose of a water collection point which operates independently and the water will be used to top up other operational swimming pools.
The cost of drilling the well point was just over R400 000 and the scope of work included drilling several well points, connecting them to the water tanks and then into the plant.
Additional work that must still be done includes cutting into the perimeter fence to install an access gate, while a custom fitting will be installed for the stand pipe which connects to the department’s water trucks.
Muizenberg has five seasonal lifeguards and one seasonal senior lifeguard on duty. In addition, new equipment at the pool includes a spinal board with head blocks and harness, a shade cover for lifeguards and four wrap-around lifesaving devices.
The pool reopened on 1 December 2018 and will close again on 2 February 2019.
Muizenberg is one of 17 of 35 municipal public pools open this summer. Picture: Supplied/City of Cape Town
"All our operational swimming pools have been fitted with two 10 000-litre plastic tanks that are used to backwash and filter water that is circulated back into the swimming pool for re-use. By doing this, the City is saving a substantial amount of water that would have been lost," Smith said.
Careful consideration went into selecting which facilities to open this summer. Some of the criteria included the accessibility of the facilities and their location in relation to transport routes, but also to ensure equal representation across the four areas of the city.
The Recreation and Parks Department works closely with law enforcement to ensure the safety of all swimming pool users, while lifeguards will not only be on duty at the pools but also at the Camps Bay, Maiden’s Cove, Mobwabisi, Sparks Bay, Harmony Park, Strandfontein and St James tidal pools.
The full list of pools that will be open this festive season can be accessed here.
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