THE outdoor swimming pool at Riverside Ice and Leisure Centre will not reopen this month due to asbestos contamination.

The pool closed in September following the end of the summer season, and its thought that asbestos entered the pool in October through the circulating pipework.

It’s thought the pool now won’t open until at least the beginning of July.

On discovering the asbestos Chelmsford Council officers notified the Health and Safety Executive and sought expert advice on the best way of dealing with it.

The council has been advised by the HSE that whilst the asbestos is in the water, it poses no risk to the public or staff.

The council has since been working with specialist advisors and contractors over the last few months to find a solution that would enable the pool water and asbestos to be safely removed.

A thorough investigation of the pipework will be carried out once the water and asbestos are removed from the pool.

The council also confirmed that the outdoor pool’s water filtration system is separate to the system that controls the indoor pools, and following precautionary tests, the water in the inside pool was found to be completely safe.

The work to remove the asbestos will involve filtering the water in the outdoor pool to ensure that all the asbestos is completely removed from the water and disposed of with the approval of the HSE, the Environment Agency and Anglian Water.

During this work all other facilities at Riverside Ice and Leisure Centre will be unaffected and will remain open for business as usual.

A spokesperson for the council said: “Once discovered, the council took immediate action and sought expert advice. We have identified the most effective way of disposing of the material safely and this will commence in mid-May.

“The council takes its public health responsibilities very seriously and will only consider reopening the outdoor pool when we can be absolutely certain that there is no outstanding risk from asbestos.”