Excessive levels of E. coli found in public pools

Cheoc Van swimming pool

Two public swimming pools have been recently closed due to excessive levels of E. coli bacteria. Since the Taipa Central Park swimming pool was closed on Tuesday (the pool has resumed operations as of yesterday morning), the water quality at the Cheoc Van swimming pool located in Coloane was yesterday also found to be noncompliant.
The Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) revealed that it had discovered sub-standard hygiene conditions after performing regular tests on public swimming pools. The Cheoc Van pool is now undergoing water purification and disinfection and will be re-opened once its water quality is deemed to meet required standards.
“The IACM has strict regulations on managing the water quality of all public swimming pools under its jurisdiction and inspects them regularly so as to ensure that they meet with required standards,” stated the bureau in a press release yesterday, adding that it would reinforce its inspection regime.
The bureau explained that the poor water quality in Taipa Central Park swimming pool might have been caused by a malfunction in the pool’s filtration system. As for the Cheoc Van pool, possible reasons listed by the bureau included chance factors such as birds in the surrounding environment and personal hygiene of swimmers. BY