Gratwick Aquatic Centre reopened after pool testing delays

The Gratwick Aquatic Centre has reopened on Wednesday after delays in water testing. The pool was set to reopen last weekend but a Port Hedland Leisure Facebook post last Thursday revealed they had jumped the gun. “We were really hoping to reopen Gratwick Aquatic Centre on Saturday, but unfortunately, we’ve got a few more boxes to tick before we can open the doors,” the post read. “We are currently waiting on results from water testing to come back from Perth. While we’d love to open the doors this weekend, we need to make sure the water is all good to go to ensure everyone’s safety. “We’ll let you know when Gratwick Pool can reopen as soon as we have the green light from the labs.” A Town of Port Hedland spokesperson said the town undertakes mandatory water sampling of all public aquatic facilities in compliance with the relevant code of practice and the Public Health Act. “Water testing includes an analysis of chemical levels and any presence of bacteria that could present a risk to human health,” they said. “We can confirm that the two sets of samples for Gratwick Aquatic Centre returned perfect results and that the facility is safe for public enjoyment.” The Gratwick Aquatic Centre has had its fair share of maintenance issues and frequent closures in the past, namely a false positive reading to amoeba Naegleria fowleri (which causes amoebic meningitis) in 2019, later found to be Naegleria australiensis. “The Gratwick Aquatic Centre is well-past its used-by date, it’s over 50 years old,” Port Hedland councillor Camilo Blanco said. “When I was mayor between 2016-2019, the pool had significant issues, it was losing mega amounts of water because the concrete had cracks and leaks in it. “There has been a constant injection of funds into the pool to remedy the leaking issues, the aging pipe work, filtration system and we had to get rid of the dive pool because it was just going to cost too much to repair. “We are going to continue to have ongoing problems with that facility in years to come, because it is just too old. “If we completely re-did the facility when I was mayor in 2017, it would have been all finished now and we would have had a new facility, it wouldn’t be opening and closing all of the time, but we’re still in the same boat.”