Auckland’s Karanga Plaza Pool: Mayor Wayne Brown Voices Concerns Over Safety Issues

He expressed strong approval for the pool and stated it was merely a segment of his “larger initiative” to optimize Auckland’s harbours.

Following yesterday’s red alert, the mayor noted that the Safeswim initiative relies on computer modeling, “which can imply anything”.

“Actual on-site analysis is necessary as well.

“Recall the computer simulations that predicted 20mm of rainfall in January 2023 when we received 400mm, and I was blamed for the flooding,” Brown remarked.

Council’s general manager for Healthy Water, Craig McIlroy, stated that daily sampling at Karanga Plaza and other beaches does not provide real-time water quality updates.

“The outcomes of the sampling analyses can take approximately 48 hours to return, and the water quality at Auckland’s beaches can fluctuate within a much shorter time frame,” he stated.

Safeswim utilizes real-time data on precipitation, wind, and other environmental conditions to model water quality at each beach, with updates at least every 15 minutes.

“Ongoing water quality sampling is also a crucial aspect of the initiative and aids in validating and enhancing model performance. We will persist in sampling at Karanga Plaza throughout the summer,” McIlroy mentioned.

The tidal steps descending to the pool at Karanga Plaza are becoming a favored location for swimming. It boasts ladder access, a jumping platform, changing facilities, and the water quality is constantly monitored on the council’s Safeswim website.

Lifeguards oversee the pool during peak swimming hours, and it remains open during daylight hours throughout the summer.

Former Auckland councillor Sandra Coney was not taken aback that the mayor’s “vanity pool at Karanga Plaza is closed just days after its inauguration”.

“He characterized the pool as ‘performing tasks better, quicker, and less expensively’ but now all we have is an ineffective, hazardous, superfluous facility occupying space on the harbor’s edge.

“This pool was destined to encounter pollution challenges,” Coney stated on social media, adding “it’s a disaster awaiting to occur for inebriated visitors who are lured by a dip in the seawater on their way home” from nearby bars and eateries.

Data from the council’s Safeswim programme indicates that the portion of time Karanga Plaza was safe for swimming last summer was 85%.

This was positioned near the lower end of the 130 or so beaches assessed, where it was found that 17 beaches were swimmable 100% of the time, eight were swimmable 99% of the time, and the majority were swimmable 90% or greater of the time.

Initiated in the summer of 2017, Safeswim has earned international accolades for supplying residents with “clear and precise” real-time information on the water quality at 147 beaches and swimming spots across the city.

In 2020, Safeswim received the Smart Water Project of the Year award from Global Water Intelligence, and in 2023, it was highlighted by the World Economic Forum as one of three winners in the Digital Twin Cities. Global Pioneer Project.

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