By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Pool heating and upkeep is becoming an increasingly costly exercise.
The Dandenong Oasis and Noble Park Aquatic Centre have chalked up $1.5 million and $1.4 million annual losses, according to Greater Dandenong Council.
About $642,000 was spent on energy and water at the 40-plus-year-old Oasis, and $366,000 at NPAC.
Another $270,000 has been spent on minor maintenance at the two pools so far in 2022-’23 financial year.
South East Leisure, which operates the pools, says it has budgeted for an average 5 per cent increase in utility costs.
“This is an issue impacting the industry as a whole and we are not immune,” an SEL spokesperson said.
Unlike other pool operators, SEL stated it was not cooling pool temperatures to manage the energy price hikes.
At Oasis, a 34-plus degrees Celsius temperature was maintained in the warm-water hydrotherapy pool, and 32 degrees in the learn-to-swim pools.
NPAC’s indoor and outdoor pools were operated between 28 and 30 degrees “as is typical for the industry”.
Meanwhile the Oasis’s proposed replacement, the $98 million Dandenong Wellbeing Centre, is undergoing an audit to verify its green credentials.
According to the council, the DWC was expected to use 2875 MWh per year – 2248 MWh from the grid with 627 MWh offset by rooftop solar panels.
“A major focus and one of our core values is sustainability – this is a key design principle for the DWC project,” the SEL spokesperson said.
“Therefore it is expected like most new Aquatic centres to operate far more efficiently than Oasis and NPAC.”
