municipal swimming pools closed due to soaring prices

Published

France 2

Article written by

A.Guery, R.Moquillon, C.Blondiaux J.Ricco, F.Daireaux, J.Delage, N.Sadok – France 2

France Televisions

Dozens of municipal swimming pools were closed on Monday, September 5, because they consume a lot of energy and often gas to heat the pools. Most of them have been done by an operating company, Vert Marine, because the energy bill has become much too high.

It’s the cold shower for the largest aquatic center in Limoges (Haute-Vienne). Monday, September 5, it closed its doors. It happened overnight, without notice. The reason: the energy crisis. Inside, it’s dead calm. All the motors responsible for regulating the temperature of the swimming pool are stopped. These machines are very energy intensive. “There are about 40 engines like that on the site that run on 18 kWh per hour. You imagine: multiply by 24 hours, multiply by the number of days, multiply by the number of months etc., that’s what fact that we have an electricity consumption that has exploded”explains Claude Tourtois, Operations Manager.

According to the manager of the swimming pool, energy expenditure would have soared from 600 to 1.6 million in 2022. Unable to increase the entrance fee, the company found itself at an impasse. The elected officials, faced with a fait accompli, regret this scenario. It is the same everywhere in France. On Monday, around thirty of the manager’s swimming pools would be affected.


source site-14