Invercargill’s Splash Palace has witnessed a jump in numbers over the past year, but not in a category staff would have hoped.
The amount of code browns — or faecal contaminations — at the city’s swimming complex has passed 2024 figures with more than a month to spare.
As of October 31, there had been 30 incidents resulting in 58.5 hours of unplanned pool closures. That compared to 28 incidents leading to 59.4 hours lost in 2024.
City council manager aquatic services Stephen Cook said the leisure pool was the most common victim.
“Following a faecal contamination incident, our staff work quickly and professionally to address the issue.”
Standard procedure included closing the affected pool, cleaning up the material and super-chlorinating the water, he said.
The pool remained closed for anywhere from 30 minutes to 12 hours, “depending on the type of material involved”.
“Further water testing is conducted before the affected pool is reopened to the public.”
The topic of pool pooping rose to the surface at a recent council meeting when manager Rhiannon Suter said unplanned pool closures continued to be an issue for aquatic services.
The closures often related to “code browns”, she said, although equipment failure had also been a problem of late.
Invercargill has made national headlines for its code browns over the years.
In 2015, repeat offences were committed at Splash Palace on six consecutive Friday nights.
The incident was investigated by comedian Guy Williams in 2020, who travelled to Invercargill in hopes of tracking down the mystery pooper.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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