Swimmers dive into Barton Springs Pool once again

Barton Springs Pool opened Wednesday morning after several weeks in closure.

Heavy rains forced the city to close the popular swimming hole on October 22.

"Anytime it floods we have to make sure all the debris and all of the silt are removed. Once it's ready to operate then we open it up," said Victor Ovalle with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.

Aquatics crews say a grating system at the pool designed to filter out debris became clogged in the rain storm.
Piles of tree limbs prevented the filter from working properly. Silt, sediment and tree limbs drifted into Barton Springs Pool.

The city closed the pool until it could be thoroughly scrubbed.  Another rain storm a few days later delayed the clean-up.

"We're constantly cleaning . The next day we clean again. It's like the same thing over and over," said an aquatics specialist with the City of Austin.

The pool stayed closed until Wednesday, November 4. Immediately swimmers jumped back in to crisp 68 degree water.

"It's better than a pool because you can do a much longer lap and I like to do that. It's always kind of fun to be able to swim a long distance without having to turn around at the end of the pool. That's one of the reasons I like about swimming here," said Jeff Cook.

While Barton Springs Pool was closed, the city extended hours at the nearby Deep Eddy Pool. Those hours are returning to normal as Barton Springs Pool also resumes it's normal schedule.

Swimmers can visit Barton Springs Pool during normal operating hours:

• 5 a.m.-8 a.m. with no guard on duty
• 8 a.m.-6 p.m.  with a guard on duty
• 6 p.m.-10 p.m. with no guard on duty
• 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursdays only - closed for weekly cleaning