News

Leaks and additional problems delay Bottineau Swimming Pool from opening

By Scott Wagar

06/25/2013

For those individuals who have been waiting to get their first dip in the Bottineau public pool this summer, it appears local swimmers are going to have to wait a little longer.

“The spring of 2013 has been challenging for the pool. Since the snow has melted and the weather has allowed us to start pool opening procedures, We’ve ran into a number of maintenance issues.  Some of these issues are routine and happen to some extent each spring. Others have required additional time and resources to resolve,” said Greg Bernstein, a member of the pool board who represents the city on the board as an alderman.

“The most significant issue has been a leak in the main pool.  Troubleshooting the cause of this problem has delayed the opening date. We were not able to fix the leak entirely. It has recently slowed to an acceptable level and we will continue to monitor water loss over the course of the summer.  If water loss increases to an unacceptable level during operation, additional downtime might be required for repairs.   

“We hope to avoid these issues in the future by conducting some overdue maintenance on the pool and facility,” Bernstein added. “The pool was built in the early ‘70s and occasionally it requires some significant off season maintenance to fix leaks, repair and replace other parts of its filtration system that wear over time to keep it operating properly.”

The pool was to open on Monday, June 24, but issues came up over the weekend, keeping the pool closed until an unknown future date at this present time.

The wading pool, which has not been open for a couple of seasons, will remain closed until the First District Health Unit inspects the wading. Once the main pool opens, the pool board will work in getting the wading pool open as soon as they can.

“Since the late start, fees for those who want or have summer passes will take place. We will offer a discounted rate of $75 for a family season pass and $50 for a single season pass due to the late opening,” Bernstein said. “We will refund the people that have already purchased passes.”