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PUBLIC SWIMMING BATHS
The Council's two swimming baths situated at Camberwell
Church Street and East Dulwich Road each have two pools.
Both the pools at Camberwell and the first-class pool at
Dulwich have a capacity of 118,125 gallons and the second
class pool at Dulwich 88,590 gallons. Disinfectant footbaths
and showers are provided for each pool and dressing
cubicles are sited around the pools at bath level.
Both establishments have filtration plants and
chlorinators (with break-point operation) with a rate of
turnover of 30,000 gallons an hour. The filters are
cleaned by back-washing twice weekly. The bottoms of the
pools are swept every morning with heavily weighted
brushes and the surfaces are hosed-off down the scum trough
drains.
The first class pool at Dulwich and the front pool
at Camberwell are closed during the months of October to
April when they are emptied and floored over, so that the
halls may be used for dances, meetings and other indoor
activities. At the end of the Winter the wells of the
pools are thoroughly cleansed and disinfected and any
necessary repairs and re-painting carried out before the
baths are again brought into use for swimming.
The second class pool at Dulwich and the rear pool
at Camberwell remain open throughout the year except for
two weeks in October when the wells are emptied, cleansed
and disinfected. Any necessary repairs and re-painting
are carried out at the same time.
Over the past few years there has been a steady
increase in the number of persons who use the swimming
baths, but last year the attendances dropped considerably;
this was no doubt due to the exceptionally cold and wet
summer. The following are the approximate number of
bathers at each establishment during the past three years.
Year Camberwell Dulwich
1958 147,000 154,000
1959 176,000 156,000
1960 162,000 135,500
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