Central Otago public swimming pools continue to be popular this summer, with figures on par with the previous year.

Statistics supplied by the Central Otago District Council showed that in December the Cromwell Swim Centre had 5614 visitors and the Molyneux Aquatic Centre had 5411.

Numbers for January were also strong so far with 2644 using the Cromwell pool half way through the month, and 3175 in Alexandra.

A spokesperson for the council said things may slow down for the second half of this month due to people going home from holiday.

The new Ida MacDonald Roxburgh pool had also been popular and committee chair Sally Feinerman said they have received excellent feedback on the new facility.

“Over Christmas we had lots of visitors enjoy the facility as well as locals.”

The pool opened in December and was mostly being run by volunteers this season, with two staff employed on a part time basis. 

Guests at the opening of the new Ida MacDonald Roxburgh Pool in early December. PHOTO: Supplied

Out in Ranfurly, pool staff extended its opening hours this summer to Monday to Friday from 7am-6pm and Saturday and Sunday, 10am-5pm.  

It had previously operated on a split shift and that had put some people off, council said.

Meanwhile, Cromwell pool’s new water-sourced heat pump system was finally working well after teething problems over winter.

The carbon-footprint-friendly system was an upgrade on the LPG gas heating system, but had initially struggled to heat the pool to a desired temperature - particularly the spa.

The new system operated using energy gained from Cromwell’s main water supply lines, but monitoring systems showed that at times there wasn’t the amount of consistent water flow to meet the design need of the new heat pump.

Contractors have since added an extra heat reclaim coil in the exhaust airstream of the pool to compensate for when the street-main water flow dropped too low. 

Last year the council estimated the new system cost $900,000, with a $100,000 grant from the Government's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.