Phoenix Pools Should Start Re-Opening This Weekend

Crews have been cleaning all the pools since Monday, when a bacterial infection was found in the water at one west side pool.

Phoenix city officials on Wednesday announced that the 29 closed city swimming pools will reopen, on a rolling basis, beginning this weekend. All pools were closed after cryptosporidium, a bug which causes an intestinal illness, was discovered in the water at Marivue Pool at 5625 W. Osborn Rd. Since then, the county Department of Public Health has received 41 contacts from the public claiming to be ill, and 17 lifeguards have reported illness as well. For that reason, and since the lifeguards rotate between pools, the decision was made to close all the pools until they could all be treated.

At the news conference, Mayor Phil Gordon, Parks Director Sara Hensley, and Water Services Dept. Director David Modeer said that the infection likely came from the soiled diaper of a child who was playing in the pool. "Yes, it occasionally happens where a parent may not be responsible enough to put a swim diaper on a child," said Hensley, referring to watertight diapers that are available just for that purpose. However, Mayor Gordon said the bacteria could have come from another source, such as an ill adult, or the bacteria could have been introduced into the pool from something like a water toy brought to the pool from a home pool, a tubing trip on the Salt River, etc.

Crews have been hand-cleaning all surfaces at all of the city pools, including the pool decks, locker rooms, restrooms, etc. In addition, the water in the pools has been hyper-chlorinated to kill any remaining infection. As the chlorine level in each pool returns to normal, which takes a few days, those pools will be reopened to the public.

If you have regular activities at a pool, such as swimming lessons, Parks Director Hensley said you will be contacted when the pool you use has re-opened. Otherwise, for more information, you can call the city at (602) 534-2222 or e-mail pks.pio@phoenix.gov