Rock pools cleaning update

Following the inspections on Monday, the pool cleaning crew are working to clean Woonona, Bulli and Coledale rock pools this week.

Woonona was a particular priority for the team as there had been recent vandalism at the site with broken glass scattered on the concourse. While the area had been cleaned, a thorough empty and clean of the pool is to ensure no glass shards had been missed.

Bulli Beach is also experiencing significant sand levels with the pool team requiring an excavator in the pool – a first for the team who do not ordinarily require this level of mechanical support at this location. It’s estimated some 500 tonnes of sand were removed from the pool.

As any current photograph of Towradgi rock pool shows, the work to empty this pool is an extensive job that will take time and significant resources to complete.

Looking at the tidal charts, there will be low tides in the afternoon next week. However, the forecast overnight high tides would mean that any attempt to clean the pool would be immediately reversed. This is because the seawater would flush new sand into the pool. Looking at the longer-range tidal forecast, we’re working to have the pool cleaned in the next three weeks.

Rock pools are particularly challenging when it comes to cleaning and maintenance. Their location right on the shoreline means you need a combination of low tides, seas and swell to be able to empty, clean and then re-fill the pools. Plus, we need to make sure that the weather forecast doesn’t mean a pristine pool would be re-filled with sand or seaweed just hours later.

Recent weather means we have had significant sand levels on our beaches at the moment. While Bulli Beach did have some sand wash away after last weekend’s heavy rain, there haven’t been any East Coast Lows for some time that traditionally lead to coastal erosion and often remove large volumes of sand from the beaches. This means some spaces, like rock pools, can see a build up of sand. It also means, however, we’ve got more space on our beaches for summer.

Our pool cleaning crew have 3x 20-tonne excavators, a backhoe and a bulldozer on standby to be able to complete the work at Towradgi rock pool as soon as possible. It’s going to be a complicated job. While most pool cleans take between four and six hours to complete, it’s estimated that with the volume of sand at this site, it will take significantly more time. It’s not likely to be cleaned in only one tidal window but across several days.

While we do enjoy the challenge set by the swell, tides and weather, we understand our community loves the city’s nine rock pools.

We thank our community for their understanding and patience. While we know some people are enjoying the lower water levels at Towradgi, if the conditions don’t meet your needs, our other rock pools are open and Woonona, Bulli and Coledale are planned to be shipshape by the end of the week.

Stay up to date with the rock pools cleaning schedule on our dedicated pools page.