The mystery behind the Hamilton pool poo bandit - the dirty endemic that saw seven South Lanarkshire swimming baths shut 47 times in four years

Six years ago the county of South Lanarkshire was plagued by a dirty endemic, in which poo in the water of local swimming pools caused a total of 47 closures in a four year period.

Hamilton Water Palace had to shut a total of 23 times in just four years due to floaters in the water - that’s an average of once every three months. A faecal package in the pool isn’t as common as you might think either, certainly not at the frequency Hamilton Water Palace saw.

And it wasn’t just Hamilton Water Palace that saw closures. Nearby Lanark Swimming Pool was closed 10 times in the same period for the exact same reason. An FOI request from the Hamilton Advertiser discovered a worrying trend amongst South Lanarkshire pools - Coalburn Swimming Pool was closed six times in the same period, while Carluke Pool, Dollan Aqua Centre, Blantyre Pool, and Eastfield Pool had all been closed twice.

The only swimming pool that was poo-free between 2012 and 2016 was Larkhall pool, which saw zero shutdowns due to faecal contamination in the water during the four year period. In total. 47 shutdowns due to human waste happened in four years in South Lanarkshire swimming pools.

Boss of South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture at the time, Gerry Campbell, spoke to the Hamilton Advertiser in 2016, saying that immediately upon discovery of excrement in the water that the pool is shut to carry out a clean.

Gerry Campbell said:”When this happens we close the pool immediately and carry out a strict cleaning regime to ensure any harmful bacteria is removed.

“This is carried out in line with Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group guidelines. The timescale for this can vary based on volume of pool water, turnover and chemical treatment.

“For the 25-metre pool at Hamilton, this takes 36 hours. We apologise for the inconvenience to our customers but public health is our priority and we cannot take chances where health is concerned.

“Our staff are still paid when the pool is closed and we use this time to concentrate on other areas of cleaning in the centre.”

If it takes on average 36 hours to decontaminate the pool - and the Hamilton Water Palace was shut 23 times - this means that the Hamilton pool was shut for a total of 828 hours (or 34 and a half days) between 2012 and 2016. This begs the question, is this a coincidence caused by mass incontinence in South Lanarkshire over four years? Or was it a more targeted campaign?

Joel Golby for Vice posited three theories in an article posted in 2016;

1) One person was targeting South Lanarkshire Leisure pools for reasons unknown

2) An organised group of people (or gang) were targeting swimming pools

3) Mass incontinence caused by forces unknown

No one was ever charged with the spree of pool pooings - and the shutdowns have since returned to a regular level. Now the people of South Lanarkshire can drop their kids off at the pool in safety - although we may never know the full story behind the Hamilton pool poo bandit, real or not.