Toronto residents are questioning why it’s taking so long for a kids pool with “brown, cloudy water” to be fixed at a local community centre.
Photos of the murky pool water at Trinity Community Recreation Centre, located near Queen and Shaw streets, have been making the rounds on Reddit, and people are expressing a combination of disgust and concern in the post’s comments section.
And it seems to be a longstanding issue as many shared their own experiences at the recreation centre, and the pool.
“That pool always has problems. Even the heating for the showers is often not working,” one Reddit user commented.
The person who shared the photos also mentions that when he brought the issue to the staff there, he was told they “have been asking the city for months to change the water filters.”
Now Toronto reached out to the rec centre, and the staff said the tot pool will be closed until further notice and did not provide a date for reopening.
Residents have since responded swiftly, with some online users offering solutions and others taking action to notify city officials.
A Reddit user who identified themselves as a former city lifeguard suggested contacting specific authorities, noting, “The city is extremely stingy with its maintenance budget, and getting management to believe that something is an issue is impossible unless the public also complains.”
“I’ve literally walked around a green pool with a facility supervisor and they told me it was fine,” the lifeguard continued.
Several individuals have since reported reaching out to local authorities. One user shared that they emailed Toronto Councillor for Ward 10, Ausma Malik about the problem.
Hours later, they updated the post, stating they received a prompt response from the councillor’s office: “We will be reaching out to Parks, Forestry, and Recreation staff, as well as the community centre, to ensure we can quickly get this resolved.”
A parent who enrolled their child for swim lessons at the centre but never returned after the first lesson shared their dismay: “It’s disgusting. I signed my baby up for swim lessons back in May and it was like this. I never went back after the first lesson because I just couldn’t bring myself to step foot in there.”
CITY OF TORONTO RESPONDS
In a statement shared with Now Toronto, a city spokesperson said city staff has been “actively working” to repair the filter system for the tot pool since the middle of May.
“While staff were working to repair the filter system, it became evident that a new filter system was required,” the spokesperson added.
According to the city, new filters arrived on June 14, and staff are now working with plumbers to remove the old filters and install the new ones.
