A Queensland swimming centre has started a “Keep the poo out of the pool” awareness campaign urging visitors to use toilets, following a spate of “faecal incidents” at the popular tourist destination.
Bluewater Lagoon in Mackay, a family-friendly leisure facility made up of two lagoon areas and a children’s water playground, has been hit with nine temporary closures due to defecation since the end of September, at a cost of up to $4,000 each time.
Mackay Regional Council, which runs the lagoon, launched the campaign with a video titled “The lowdown on code brown” earlier this week, and asked visitors to put swim nappies on kids, “make a pre-swim pit stop”, and take regular bathroom breaks.
“If you’ve got little ones and you’ve forgotten your swim nappy, see the staff at the Bluewater Lagoon Mackay Café for your free swim nappy. Code Brown ruins the fun, so let’s all be responsible pool users!” the council said.
Lagoon manager Kimberly Armstrong said the source of the incidents was difficult to determine, but she suspected children were to blame.
“We’re probably looking at younger children, around two to three years old, but accidents do happen. Kids get busy, they get preoccupied, and they’re not thinking about going to the bathroom,” she told Mackay & Whitsunday Life.
Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said the campaign was light-hearted but aimed to reduce the cost of dealing with what he called “faecal incidents”, and prevent disruptions for visitors as closers lasted for at least six hours.
“We’ve got a brand-new campaign to keep the poo out of the pool. It might sound a little flippant, but it carries a very serious message,” he said.
“Every time there’s a code brown at our facilities, it costs about $3,000 – and we’ve had nine since the end of September. That’s a significant amount of money just to make sure the pool is clean and sanitised.”
Local residents shared mixed reactions to the campaign on social media, with some complaining about the cost to ratepayers, and others asking if kids really were to blame.
“How stupid has society become!” wrote one person.
“What is wrong with people needing to poo in a pool? Is it always young kids?” asked another.
“This never used to happen,” observed a third.
Bluewater Lagoon is ranked as the number one “thing to do” in Mackay by travel website Tripadvisor.
Header image: Bluewater Lagoon (RCP).
The post Lagoon visitors urged to use toilets after spate of ‘faecal incidents’ first appeared on The Noticer.
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