Palm Desert Aquatic Center to temporarily close lap pool amid equipment failures
Gavin Nguyen
PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – Technical problems continue to plague the Palm Desert Aquatic Center.
City officials announced Tuesday that the lap pool at the facility would temporarily close until key equipment could be replaced.
The city cited issues with its pump room equipment, including filtration system, pumps, and heaters – all of which was installed when the facility first opened in 2011.
It said regular wear and extreme weather damaged seals around the filter tanks, which led to water clarity issues throughout the summer.
The recreation and splash pools will remain open with the lap pool temporarily shuttered. In the meantime, lap swim sessions will still happen (with limited hours) in the recreation pool, which is still open.
There are no problems chemically with the pools. Everything is balanced, including parameters like chlorine levels. The clarity is the key issue.
Pool staff said clarity problems are most apparent in the lap pool – which is why it is the only pool to face a temporary closure. At 15 feet deep, lifeguards presently cannot easily see to the bottom of the pool, which is critical in the event someone sinks to the bottom and is in distress.
The city anticipates a full replacement of key equipment in November, which will lead to an 8-10 week closure of the entire facility.
David Keyes, the Aquatic Manager of the facility, walked News Channel 3 crews through the equipment room that maintains the poolwater. Amid the din of whirring machines, he outlined the large lap pool filter – which has reached the end of its lifespan after 14 and a half years – that he described as being 25 times larger than the typical backyard pool filter.
“It’s big enough in there where I’ll get inside and I’ll shovel out, you know, the “elements” when we do some work on it,” he said, standing next to the filter.
He said when work begins in November, it will be replaced by a smaller, more efficient filter, which will free up some floor space in the room.
When the original filter was installed in 2011, it was put in place first – before the walls and roof were built around it.
Keyes also showed the smaller filters for the recreation and splash pools, hidden in the back. While smaller and filtering much less poolwater, they, too, have neared the end of their lifespans, and will be replaced when the overhaul takes place.
A new 50-horsepower pump will be installed, along with new heaters. Keyes said it’s a complete overhaul.
“There’s just no way to get around a long closure when you’re replacing your entire mechanical room and you want to gain another 15 to 20 years out of it,” Keyes explained.
He continued, “The city wants to make sure, hey, what we’re doing is done right so we’re not going to run into these problems years later.”
If you have any questions, you’re encouraged to contact PDAC staff at 760-565-7467 or visit the facility’s website at pdpool.com.