DESPITE its best ever summer, Petersfield Open Air Swimming Pool’s trustees are facing a bleak mid-winter.

Although set to re-open in April as normal, more than £25,000 must be spent replacing the pool’s water filtration system.

The pool is independently managed by a charitable trust, and run by volunteers.

Board of trustees chairman Linda Knutsen said: “Thanks to some new ideas, there have been more swimmers than ever before using the pool, even though the summer weather wasn’t consistently good.

“There were reduced price afternoon sessions when The Petersfield School closed early on Wednesdays and Fridays, and early morning and evening swimming sessions.

“This increase in income allowed us to put in a new kitchen and a treatment room and boarding out a first floor area.

“And thanks to donations from Petersfield Round Table among others, we could replace the pool cover with a new one.

“But now we have another big unexpected and unplanned outgoing. The pool is 55-years-old, as is the 2.5 metre wide by 1.5 metre high filtration tank and its surrounding pipework, and the tank and pipework needs to be replaced at a cost of about £25,000.

“We already knew some of the pipes needed renewing, but from the outside the filtration tank looked fine.

“It was only when the inside was inspected recently that we found out the tank needed replacing.

“We can’t risk leaving it for another year, as if it started leaking this summer we would have to close the pool and we can’t afford to do that, so we have decided to replace it now.”

The work will start in February and take four weeks to complete. One immediate knock-on effect is that winter swimming between now and April won’t go ahead as planned.

But that should be back on the programme next winter, added Linda.

To get the tank out of the pool a mobile crane will park in the Festival Hall car park and lift it out of the pool compound and swing it on to the back of a lorry.

For more information visit the website www.pet ersfieldpool.org/wordperss