Skip to content

Hot tub closed after another leak found at pool

City staff can't predict when Community Centre hot tub will reopen
60207penticton66101penticton38931penticton44718penticton1006pool
While most of Penticton's pool complex remains open

Just how long the hot tub at the Community Centre pool will remain closed is unknown.

The hot tub was closed Sept. 23, after investigations showed the water level dropping.

Facilities manager Bregje Kozak said a thermal scanner was used to locate the source of the problem.

“We’ve been able to narrow down the location of the pipe that is leaking. They found a void when they did the scans … which tells us there is likely a leaking pipe,” said Kozak. The next step, now the approximate location of the leak has been found, is to start digging.

“It is actually on the bottom of the hot tub. Over the next couple of days we should be able to get down and expose it,” said Kozak. “We have to bring in a structural engineer to make sure we are not cutting through rebar or any other structural components.”

Kozak said Stuart Olson Dominion Construction, the contractor that completed the $28-million reconstruction of the pool in 2011, has been taking care of the work, including getting the structural engineer.

“Everything so far has been at their cost. They have been working with us very well,” said Kozak. “As soon as we found out about the problem, they were here within half an hour and they have been taking care of it, making sure we have the proper scanning equipment and engineers.”

The leisure pool closed for an extended period in 2015, when leaks around the drains were discovered, not long after a June 18 earthquake. In June 2016 the city announced the annual summer closure would be extended for an additional three weeks to allow time for preventative maintenance, checking the drains in the main pool and repairing if needed.

Read more: Leisure pool now operational

Read more: Penticton community pool will be closed for extended period

“The current issue with the hot tub area at the Rec. Centre pool appears to have resulted from damage to a pipe during the repair work carried out this summer. It is not symptomatic of any ongoing issues with the pool,” said Mayor Andrew Jakubeit. “We regret the inconvenience to our users and we will continue to update the situation with the repair work as we receive more information.”

Kozak said it will still be a couple of days before the extent of the problem is known and how long it will take to fix it, but only the hot tub is closed. The rest of the pool facilities continue to operate as normal.

“Even during the repair, we will make sure we hoard off the hot tub so it is safe in the area and the rest of the facility won’t be impacted,” said Kozak. “We are hoping that by the end of this week, we will have a repair plan in place and timelines but until we actually see what we are dealing with the pipe, we can’t predict.”