Ninety-nine 'code browns' at Blenheim pool in a year

Friday, 14 February 2020

Blenheim's public pool recorded 99 'code browns' last year, prompting a campaign to keep the pool 'poo-free'.

Stadium 2000 rolled out the educational campaign in winter, reminding parents to let their children go to the toilet before swimming and to be attentive to their needs while in the pool.

Code browns, a council term for incidents of solid poo, diarrhoea or vomit in pools, invoke nervous glances among parents, and set off protocols which typically close the pool for 3 to 6 hours.

Stadium 2000 chief executive Rob MacLean urged parents to slow down with their children before swimming lessons, and go to the toilet before the pool.

There were seven code browns in January 2020.

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Stadium 2000 chief executive Rob MacLean said it was extremely disruptive to other pool users, but the 'reality of public pools'.

'Similar issues are found in pools through out New Zealand and worldwide. Marlborough is certainly not unique in dealing with this,' he said.

There were 99 code browns recorded in the pools at Stadium 2000 from January to December 2019.

'A big function of public pools is to provide people with a safe place to learn to swim, to develop an affinity with water…

'The littler the person, the less understanding they have of how their body reacts.'

Signs around the Stadium said 'we want to be poo free, help us keep it that way'.

The number of code browns are up from 77 in 2018 and 73 in 2017.

It also gave suggestions like not rushing to swimming lessons or the pool.

'This can be stressful and make them more likely to need to go to the loo,' the poster said.

They also suggested not having 'a feed before a dip', and children who were not toilet trained wearing a water nappy.

Lifeguard Liam Clark has evacuated the pool for code browns and holds the informational posters which hang at Stadium 2000.

When a code brown was called, sometimes it was spotted by the lifeguard, but mostly it was spotted by someone in the pool, MacLean said.

Lifeguards then cleared the pool and followed a procedure that was based on the Pool Water Quality Standard guidelines.

Swimmers were asked to shower before getting into another pool.

Staff removed what they could from the pool and then they would 'super chlorinate' the water.

Following this, the pool water needed to 'turnover' at least three times, running through a process of UV sterilisation and sand filtration, before it could be reopened.

It took 12 hours to reopen the sports pool, 6 hours for the programme and learn to swim pools, 5 hours for the outdoor pool and 3 hours for the leisure pool.

A code brown at morning swimming lessons meant the pool might still not be open by afternoon lessons, MacLean said.

He urged parents to slow down before getting their children in the pool, and be attentive to the child when in the pool.

'When did they last eat? When did they last go to the toilet? Are they in a rush, are they distracted?

'I think the thing that parents can do for us, is really help with that attentiveness.'

The number of code browns had increased from 2017 and 2018 which had 73 and 77 code browns respectively.