Environmental Health officers were called and directed that the pool needed to be closed with immediate effect.
The States confirmed the closure following questions from the Guernsey Press.
Visitor Thea Platt and her two children were at the pools yesterday afternoon. She said that on arrival they were concerned about red dye in the water and a ‘funny smell’, and so they headed to the neighbouring Children’s Pool.
‘I overhead a group of professional-looking people talking about the water quality in the main pool. They looked very concerned and I immediately got the kids out of the water.
‘I’m so glad I didn’t let them swim in the main pool, but we will put buckets by their beds tonight just in case.’
A States spokesman said that regular bathing water quality sampling was carried out on Monday 24 August, with a provisional result received the following day indicating a ‘poor’ result.
To confirm that this was not an anomaly, a second test was carried out two days later, with a provisional result received on the following day which indicated that the sample met the ‘good’ criteria.
As there were still concerns regarding the level of the original non-compliant sample, a dye test was carried out from the cafe toilets yesterday using a red dye.
‘This showed that foul drainage was escaping into the public area and subsequently reaching the Ladies’ Pool. Investigations are ongoing so that we can establish the extent of the issue and what remedial works need to be carried out,’ said a States spokesman.
He denied that there was any connection between the pool’s issue and a broken sewer pipe at nearby Soldier’s Bay.
‘Apart from these latest results, weekly sampling since May at the Ladies’ Pool has seen all samples come back as “excellent”.’
The dye testing has not indicated that the other bathing pools are affected, and therefore users can continue to use the other pools.
‘We know this will come as a disappointment to regular users of the Ladies’ Pool, but we hope that islanders can appreciate that it is in everyone’s best interests to close the pool while we investigate this further,’ the spokesman added.
An update on the pool closure is expected on Thursday.
A bathing water sample taken in early July in Havelet Bay revealed elevated E. coli samples, but Environmental Health said that there was no direct evidence linking the single poor reading to the Soldier’s Bay pipe. The long-term rating for Havelet Bay is still considered to be excellent.
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