If all goes as planned, in exactly 10 days from now, the popular Kitsilano Pool should be ready for its very first swimmers in nearly a year.
Crews with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) were on hand Sunday morning to assist with what is typically a very time intensive process for refilling the 137-metre-long (450-ft-long) seaside outdoor swimming pool, which is just under three times the length of an Olympic pool.
Usually, the process to fill the pool when completely empty with normal pumps takes between three and five days, with the pumps usable during high tide only. The pool is filled by pumping in seawater from English Bay, and then adding chemicals to treat it for safe swimming use.
Pool operators began filling the pool at 7 pm on Saturday night. Fire crews took over the process on Sunday morning during low tide, and by mid-afternoon, the pool’s water levels had already reached the top. Altogether, it took just 12 hours of pumping to fill the pool.
Ryan Hayes, the assistant chief of fleet and equipment services for Vancouver Fire Rescue, told media on Sunday that the Hydrosub 150, a hydraulic-driven portable submersible floating pump fed by lengthy hydraulic lines, was used for the task. Capable of pumping 3,500 litres per minute, this equipment is typically employed in suppressing larger fires — such as during the 2016 Burns Bog wildfire — and can also be used to remove floodwaters.
Since it is a rarely used piece of equipment, Hayes notes that the pool refilling job provides VFRS crews an opportunity to refresh their skills in operating it.
“We are definitely using this as a fantastic training opportunity, and we hope to be able to do this again in the future,” said Hayes, who says VFRS was first approached by City officials about a week ago on the possibility of assisting with the pool refill.
Using Vancouver Fire Rescue’s special equipment and hydraulic lines, seawater from English Bay is pumped into the repaired Kitsilano Pool.
Filled at a rate of 3,500 litres per minute starting Sunday morning. #vanpoli #vanre 2/4https://t.co/boGMWcSBnW pic.twitter.com/XK85VnW2ta
— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) July 29, 2024
Kitsilano Pool refilled on July 28, 2024, following interim repairs. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Kitsilano Pool refilled on July 28, 2024, following interim repairs. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Kitsilano Pool refilled on July 28, 2024, following interim repairs. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
The pool’s refilling comes just after another round of weeks-long interim fixes to the leaking pool structure.
After it was previously announced in early June 2024 that the pool would not open for the summer season due to persistent leakage issues, Mayor Ken Sim announced on July 5 that another round of interim fixes would be quickly made to reopen the facility by August 7.
In early April 2024, Park Board staff initially indicated that springtime repairs would enable a pool reopening by the Victoria Day long weekend in late May. However, despite the initial repair work, the pool was still leaking a significant volume of water by early June, making it impossible to balance pool chemicals for safe swimming.
Park Board staff first shockingly indicated in December 2023 that the pool loses 30,000 litres of water per hour when filled, with the leakage being mostly seawater, not potable drinking water (some potable water is sometimes used to fill the pool, in addition to the main usage of seawater). The leakage is largely attributed to substantial damage from recent king tides and storm surges.
Matthew Pell, the City of Vancouver’s manager of capital maintenance, says following the Mayor’s direction three weeks ago, City crews worked with contractors to perform five repairs in the deep end of the pool, and then replaced those areas with new concrete.
They found fractured plumbing expansion joints that needed repairs and sealed a 280-foot-long fracture — well over half the length of the pool — at the base of the pool.
With the help of Vancouver Fire Rescue, the process of cleaning, treating, and heating the seawater to make it safe for swimming can now begin.
The pool’s normal pumps only operate during high tide and have a lower pumping capacity. #vanpoli #vanre 3/4https://t.co/boGMWcSBnW pic.twitter.com/FZMjuNyJwv
— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) July 29, 2024
Kitsilano Pool refilled on July 28, 2024, following interim repairs. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Kitsilano Pool refilled on July 28, 2024, following interim repairs. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Pell notes that there are likely more cracks within other areas of the pool structure that have not been discovered and need repair, but he expects the work completed this month should enable a significant reduction in water loss.
“There’s still areas outside of the investigations that might require some repairs in the future. We were looking mainly for critical infrastructure to get those repairs, get the pool operational, get it going. In the off-season, if we need to do a couple more repairs here and there, we still have that opportunity to do that,” said Pell, who noted the pro-bono engineer secured by the Mayor provided some advice and offered assistance.
In terms of tackling the primary issue of overwhelming pool water loss, the newly completed repairs could last for years, perhaps up to even a decade, he suggested.
“Based on the repairs that we’ve completed, the water loss should be definitely reduced substantially,” continued Pell.
“I’d like to say this repair is going to last for quite a while, but if we have king tide events, we have storm surges, other natural disasters, who knows? The repairs that we’ve done now will hopefully get us through the next three, five, maybe even ten years.”
With the pool now fully refilled, says Pell, the process now begins to clean, treat, and heat the seawater to enable safe swimming use, with VFRS’ assistance expediting the start of this process by up to several days.
If all goes as planned, the reopening of the beloved pool will go ahead by Wednesday, August 7, 2024. This could salvage at least one month of the pool’s operating season, which typically ends in early September, at the end of the third week of that month. Earlier this year, it was stated that the 2024 operating season would conclude on the Labour Day long weekend in early September. It is unclear whether this operating window will be extended through the end of summer.
“I’m going to be down there on the 7th in my speedos, and I’ll be doing laps,” said Vancouver Park Board chair Brennan Bastyovanszky, who was previously part of the ABC Vancouver party and is now completing the remainder of his term as an independent.
According to the City, the interim repairs to the major cracks of Kitsilano Pool could hold up for years.
These repairs should reduce the rate of water loss substantially.
Previously, the pool leaked up to 30,000 litres per hour. #vanpoli #vanre 4/4https://t.co/boGMWcSBnW pic.twitter.com/9ohtLrsQcQ
— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) July 29, 2024
Kitsilano Pool refilled on July 28, 2024, following interim repairs. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Kitsilano Pool refilled on July 28, 2024, following interim repairs. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
But Bastyovanszky suggests the pool’s precarious state and the significantly delayed opening could have been averted with proper proactive maintenance. Kitsilano Pool is among the number of community and recreational facilities operated by the Park Board, but are maintained by the City of Vancouver.
“We were unaware that the City had known about the 280-ft crack on the north wall that the Park Board had been advocating to fix for many, many years. There’s a lot of repairs that have been needed for the last 10 years, which the Park Board have been flagging. So I am really thrilled that the City has been able to kind of get off its hands and help out and do what’s required to help out the Park Board deliver on its services,” said Bastyovanszky.
“The last 10 or 15 years, the City has been responsible for maintaining those assets. And now we waited for the pool to collapse before they jumped into action. You know what? Better late than never. I’m going to get to swim.”
Bastyovanszky is among that four Park Board commissioners — three former ABC commissioners who are now independents, and one Green commissioner — who are butting heads with Mayor Sim and ABC on their proposal to abolish the separately elected body of Park Board commissioners, and transfer the governance responsibilities of Vancouver’s parks and recreation system to the Mayor and City Council
Last week, Park Board commissioners approved Bastyovanszky’s member motion calling on City staff to report on how the City’s maintenance strategies impact parks and recreation facilities.
“It’s unfortunate that a lot of that work was known for a long time. And that’s the whole reason the Park Board exists, is to advocate to fix and to maintain,” continued Bastyovanszky
“Ultimately, the City owns the purse strings. And so finally, the City’s put their hand in their pocket, and they put money into a Park Board asset. So we’re excited to have a world-class pool again.”
Last month, Vancouver City Council also passed a member motion put forward by Mayor Sim to identify a strategy to work with the Park Board to expedite a new replacement Kitsilano Pool that is more resilient to storm levels and rising sea levels. The existing pool structure was built in 1979 to replace the original 1931-built structure.