Rise of pool ‘code browns’ sparks educational campaign

Blenheim’s public pool recorded 99 ‘‘code browns’’ last year, prompting a campaign to keep the pool ‘‘poo free’’.

Stadium 2000 rolled out the educational campaign in winter, reminding parents to let their children go to the toilet before swimming and to be attentive to their needs while in the pool.

Code browns, a council term for incidents of solid poo, diarrhoea or vomit in pools, invoke nervous glances among parents, and set off protocols which typically close the pool for 3 to 6 hours.

There were seven code browns in January 2020.

Stadium 2000 chief executive Rob Maclean said it was extremely disruptive to other pool users, but the ‘‘reality of public pools’’.

‘‘Similar issues are found in pools through out New Zealand and worldwide. Marlborough is certainly not unique in dealing with this,’’ he said.

‘‘A big function of public pools is to provide people with a safe place to learn to swim, to develop an affinity with water...

‘‘The littler the person, the less understanding they have of how their body reacts.’’

Signs around the Stadium said ‘‘we want to be poo free, help us keep it that way’’. It also gave suggestions like not rushing to swimming lessons or the pool.

‘‘This can be stressful and make them more likely to need to go to the loo,’’ the poster said.

They also suggested not having ‘‘a feed before a dip’’, and children who were not toilet trained wearing a water nappy.

The number of code browns had increased from 2017 and 2018 which had 73 and 77 code browns respectively.