Christchurch City Council Recreation & Sport Centres want all customers to be able to enjoy the pools, and have a safe and enjoyable experience.

Water quality standards

kids playing in pool

All Christchurch City Council pools comply with the New Zealand Pool Water Quality Standard NZS 5826:2010 (external link)  [PDF 2.6MB]. The purpose of this standard is to protect public health by ensuring a minimum standard is met at all times in regards to water quality.

The standard sets out the margins in which water is safe for public swimming and the required frequency of pool testing. The Christchurch City Council adheres to these standards at all times. On occasions when these standards aren’t met through water testing, a temporary pool closure takes place until the water quality is returned to within range of the standard.

The reasons for not meeting the standard can vary, in general it is caused by a human faecal or vomit incident or on occasion a plant maintenance issue.

Pioneer, Graham Condon, Jellie Park, Waltham Pool and Haswell Pool are also Pool Safe accredited (external link) . Pool safe is an accreditation run by the New Zealand Recreation Association. In order to be pool safe these pools must go through a full audit once per year. This audit encompasses the whole pool operation, including but not limited to water testing records, health and safety procedures and staff training.

Tips for parents and caregivers

It’s very important that caregivers take extra care when accompanying a child to the pool. Please ensure the following tips are followed to help keep the pools operating:

  • Please make sure your children have been to the toilet before they enter the pool.
  • Please remind your children to let their tutor know if they need to go to the toilet while they are swimming (it’s ok to leave a lesson to go to the toilet).
  • Check swim nappies regularly.
  • Do not swim if your children have had diarrhoea in the last two weeks.
  • If your children have just eaten allow food to settle before swimming.

Closure times

When water does not meet the quality standard through the regular testing, the pool must be cleared of swimmers to be treated and cleaned before it is safe for public use. The time frames required for cleaning vary depending on pool size:

  Lane pool Leisure pool Spa pool Teaching pool Toddler pool Learners pool Sport pool
Pioneer 7 hrs 
30 mins		 7 hrs 
55 mins		 1 hr 5 hrs  n/a n/a n/a
Graham Condon 8 hrs
45 mins		 n/a 1 hrs 
35 mins		 n/a 1 hrs 
25 mins		 4 hrs 
25 mins		 n/a
Jellie Park n/a 7 hrs 
30 mins		 1 hrs 
20 mins		 3 hrs 
20 mins		 1 hrs 
20 mins		 n/a 12 hrs 
20 mins