The case in summary The Jorekstad Leisure Center at Jørstadmoen in Lillehammer was closed after large amounts of chlorine were pumped in by mistake. Several experienced pain and discomfort. The general manager at Jorekstad Fritidsbad, Terje Rønning, admits that it is their fault and that the facility should have been closed earlier. The accident was caused by a fault with a chlorine pump that pumped too much chlorine into the pool. Two people have been in contact with the emergency room with eye complaints after swimming. Municipal superintendent Randi Mjøen is now planning an inspection to ensure that the swimming facility is operated properly. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – It stung so badly that he just stood and screamed, says Maria Therese Sivertsen about her son. On Thursday, more people swam at the Jorekstad Leisure Pool at Jørstadmoen in Lillehammer. Sivertsen and his family are on winter holiday. She was not with her son and father in the pool. In the room she felt nauseous and dizzy. This is what the swimming shorts looked like before use in the pool at Jorekstad. Photo: Maria Therese Sivertsen She couldn’t bear to sit there because of an extremely strong smell of chlorine, but at first thought she was just particularly sensitive. – I tried to move and sit a little further away from the pools, but it didn’t help at all. Chlorine in the pool Chlorine is an element with atomic number 17 and atomic symbol Cl. Chlorine or hypochlorites are often added to bathing water to destroy microorganisms in the water. Hypochlorites are used as disinfectants and bleaching agents. Sodium carbonate is added to neutralize the acid. The equilibrium then shifts towards more hypochlorite. Many people complain that they get watery eyes from too much chlorine in the water. But the watery eyes can rather be caused by chloramines in the water. They come from a reaction between urine in the water and hypochlorite. To remove the chloramines in the water, more chlorine must be added. According to bässin.no, shock chlorination of a pool, i.e. giving it an “overdose” of chlorine, aims to kill all bacteria and algae in the pool. A proper shock clawing is so powerful that they recommend not swimming in the pool for the first 12 hours after a shock clawing. Source: Great Norwegian encyclopedia on bathing water and hypochlorites, bässin.no VG mentioned the case first. Several children and babies in the facility The 7-year-old son had problems. – My child is screaming in pain. He looked like a meatloaf. Around the eyes it was completely red and swollen, she says. When she was down and fetched the father and son from the water, she saw that several others were having problems. Maria Therese Sivertsen is considering reporting the bathing facility. Photo: Jonas Oden Ulset / news According to her, she saw several babies and toddlers coughing. There was also a white coating on the son’s skin after bathing. They got out of the swimming pool and traveled to the nearest pharmacy to flush out the chlorine. After half an hour, the entire facility was shut down, she says. This is how the shorts look after swimming. Photo: Jonas Oden Ulset / news Sivertsen is considering filing a complaint against the facility for gross routine failure. – I am considering reporting the facility for routine failure. That no control measurements of water quality have been carried out, and that people had to stand and scream in pain before it was discovered. Many have contacted the general manager – It is our fault that it has happened, says general manager at Jorekstad Fritidsbad, Terje Rønning. There were 350 people who made the trip to the bathing facility from 10 o’clock on Thursday. When it was at its worst, there were 150 in the swimming pool, he says. Rønning says that many people have contacted him in the last 24 hours. – They have itchy eyes and wonder if we know anything about it. We do. We have let them know and it seems that several people are doing better today. Terje Rønning is the general manager at Jorekstad Fritidsbad. He says he has never experienced this happening before. Photo: Jonas Oden Ulset / news He says that Sivertsen only has to report. The routines were there, but the routine failure is that he was not notified sooner. – An alarm should have gone off when the devices went into “high”. It hasn’t gone. That shouldn’t happen. It should have been closed here three hours before at the latest. – Huge amounts of chlorine were pumped in. The reason was an accident with a chlorine pump. The device must have given the wrong data to the valve that is supposed to shut off chlorine. – Huge amounts of chlorine were also pumped in. The cause must have been a fault with a chlorine pump, says Terje Rønning, general manager at Jorekstad Leisure Pool. Photo: Jonas Oden Ulset / news He says they don’t know how much chlorine was pumped out. Rønning thought a lot about the children who got chlorine in their eyes last night. – I think it is very sad. One thing is that it is very painful for those who are affected. It’s almost like going snow blind. Terje Rønning says it is their fault that this has happened. Photo: Jonas Oden Ulset He says he has worked there for 35 years and has never experienced this before. Now things are getting tougher. – The instructions are being tightened up. We have to have that. That shouldn’t happen. Will carry out inspection Two people have been in contact with the emergency room with eye complaints after bathing, says municipal chief physician Randi Mjøen. Now they are planning an inspection. – This is to ensure that the bathing facility is operated responsibly and follows the requirements that apply within the environment to health protection for bathing facilities. The swimming pool is currently closed following the incident on Thursday. Photo: Jonas Oden Ulset / news She says that it takes a while before it poses a serious health hazard when you bathe with too much chlorine in the pool. – If people have symptoms, and especially if they worsen, we have recommended that they contact the health service, she says. Jorekstad Fritidsbad is located a little outside Lillehammer.
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Closed the Jorekstad swimming facility immediately after overflowing pool with chlorine – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
