GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A running joke on the City of Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation Department's Facebook page has turned a local pool's closure into a little bit of a meme.
The Richmond Park Pool closed for the fifth time this season Wednesday due to "contamination," the City of Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation Department said.
13 ON YOUR SIDE reached out to Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation Department officials and they say the contamination stemmed from someone pooping in the water.
The pool was closed from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. while employees addressed the contamination.
According to the city's Maintenance and Operations Supervisor, Steve Krogman, the staff follows CDC guidelines when cleaning up the pool.
"We have levels of contaminations, certain levels, and it depends on if it's a solid or if it's liquefied, or if it's a, you know, vomit. And that will dictate what we do, as far as whether we shut down for an hour and spot treat, or if we have to shut down for the night and let it filtrate and super chlorinate," Krogman.
The City of Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation Department has embraced the closures as somewhat of a running gag and made several posts about the closures on their Facebook page. The latest of those posts, celebrating one day since the last time that the pool had to be closed.
The social media posts did garner a lot of attention and made the contaminations seem more frequent than other years, but Krogman says that this happens every year.
"It's pretty normal. You know, with as many people we've run through these pools every year, you're bound to have contaminations. It's nothing any greater than what we've had in previous years," Krogman said.
With only two days left before the Richmond Park Pool closes for the season on Aug. 17, it will be interesting to see if it can make it to the end without a sixth contamination closure.