A child's faeces forced the closure of the Batemans Bay pool on Friday and parents are being urged to ensure their children are toilet trained.
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On Friday afternoon pool staff scooped up the accidental mess and tested the water quality before re-opening the pool next day.
YMCA manager Neil Hummerston said poo incidents occurred every year and that they always followed NSW Health guidelines during these situations.
He said how they acted was different in solid faeces and diarrhoea cases.
“If it’s one stool, we scoop it out and check the water quality,” he said.
“This one was a bit more widespread so we urged caution.”
They closed the pool for the rest of the afternoon and re-opened it on Saturday.
“It gave us time to ensure the water balance was correct,” Mr Hummerston said.
They dumped extra chlorine into the area and Mr Hummerston said they kept checking the water quality around the affected area and in the rest of the pool.
When diarrhoea is involved, the process takes 36 hours, he said.
“Other than diarrhoea, which is quite extreme, the other process is more of a precautionary method,” he said.
“One poo in a pool isn’t really going to affect it much.
“It’s better to play it safe than be sorry.”
Incidents with non-toilet-trained children occur every year “to varying degrees” he said.
“The fact is people should be assured that if there is an incident like that, we always act in accordance with health guidelines.”
Friday’s incident has prompted Mr Hummerston to remind parents to ensure their children are toilet-trained.
“It is a requirement that children that aren’t toilet trained should wear aqua nappies,” he said.
Mr Hummerston said it helped if parents asked children to use the toilet before they jumped in the pool.