The city has been ordered to clean up the Olympic Plaza wading pool in downtown Calgary after the summer cool-down spot was closed due to the presence of fecal matter.
According to a notice of closure from Alberta Health Services (AHS) dated Aug. 7, total coliforms were found in the water, which was sampled on Aug 1.
Two days later, a second sample presented a “heterotrophic plate count of 670 coliform forming units per millilitre.”
AHS said the presence of the coliforms “are or may become dangerous to the public health” or “might hinder in any manner the prevention or suppression of disease.”
The findings were also breaches of the Public Health Act, AHS said, including maintaining water in a public swimming pool doesn’t show coliforms in a 100-millilitre sample, and that water must not have a heterotrophic plate count higher than 100 colony-forming units per millilitre in a 100-millilitre sample.
The owners, the City of Calgary and Michael Gray, were ordered to complete any necessary repairs, adjustments or corrections, including the treatment of the wading pool, to eliminate any contamination sources, chemically balance the whirlpool water, and submit a bacteriological water sample to the provincial laboratory.
The wading pool will remain closed until the work is completed and the water is deemed safe again.
The order also stated that more work could be required “to ensure full compliance with the Public Health Act and regulations, or to prevent a public health nuisance.”
Officials said Friday it’s expected the wading pool would be opened early next week.
AHS told Global News the pool was closed for the same reason back in 2017.
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