Flood-ravaged Mullumbimby pool to be opened by 1 September

The Byron Shire Council is using a filtration system from Melbourne to ensure that the Mullumbimby Pool will be open for the spring swimming season.

The Petria Thomas Pool complex was inundated with flood water after Cyclone Debbie, and the council has now received the go-ahead from its insurers to get on with repairs.

It’s estimated the cost of damage caused by the flood was $66,000.

Byron Shire Council’s Open Space Facilities Coordinator, Pattie Ruck, said a mobile water filtration unit was now operating at the pool and was filtering approximately 200,000 litres of water a day.

‘The pool holds 1,825,000 litres of water so this is a big job but already we are starting to see the water quality improve,’ Mrs Ruck said.

He said the mobile filtration unit from Melbourne was able to process 140 litres of water a minute.

‘We did try to get a filtration unit from a local supplier but the nearest one was on the Gold Coast and they were too busy to help us,’ Mrs Ruck said.

He said the kiosk was also being repaired after it was damaged by water inundation and that work was expected to be finished in August.

‘We are aiming to have the pool open on 1 September and the water crystal clear for the first day of the swimming season,’ Mrs Ruck said.