By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Leakage has closed the Decatur City Pool until Friday, it was announced Tuesday.
The decision was made at Monday night’s meeting of the city’s park board.
Parks Superintendent Cara Gerber said the closing will provide time to look into the leakage issues.
Last May, she said, the 100-year-old pool was losing a foot of water every 24 hours.
“We did some investigating and found that the baby pool drain was constantly leaking as well as leaks from the intakes to the pool.” Gerber said.
“We chose to close the baby pool until we could have it fixed. The only fix would be to concrete the current holes and run its own chlorinated system to a shed closer to the baby pool.”
That would cost approximately $50,000.
At its meeting Monday night, the park board decided to not repair the baby pool at this time as there are other issues with the big pool that are needed to be focused upon.
“Two weeks ago, the big pool started losing 7 inches of water every 24 hours.” Gerber explained. “We know where the water is going but have not been able to determine where it’s leaking from the big pool. Filling our pool every night for 7 inches is very costly.
“We do have a few ideas on where the leak or leaks could be happening and will be doing our best to solve these issues.”
With this week’s cooler weather, it was decided it would be best to close the pool as a solution is being sought.
“We hope to know more before the weekend,” Gerber said.
She urged to stay tuned for updates on the pool situation.
“We would also appreciate comments to stay positive and helpful as we know the frustration the community will have with this news,” Gerber said. “We feel the same way as we have a fully trained staff ready to work who cannot work at this time. This is frustrating for all of us but we are actively pursuing a solution.”
The park board plans to hold an emergency meeting next week, the time and date yet to be decided.
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