The reopening of the Katherine Aquatic Centre at 6 this morning means the public now have access again to our own swimming pool.

The Katherine Aquatic Centre was reopened and is now operating under normal trading hours.

Results of water testing at the Katherine pool showed concentrations of PFAS that were within guideline levels for recreational use.

“Since then the council has worked with the YMCA to ensure that the pool and onsite facilities were ready to be reopened as quickly as possible,” a spokeswoman said.

“The YMCA of the Northern Territory is planning to hold a family fun day in the coming weeks to celebrate and is encouraging all residents to come down, have a swim and cool off in the build-up heat. Further details of the event can be found on the YMCA of the Northern Territory website and the Katherine Aquatic Centre Facebook page.”

Katherine Town Council is introducing measures to ensure that users of the pool facilities are not exposed to levels of PFAS exceeding recreational standards.

A regular water sampling program has also been put into place and results from the testing will be updated on the Council website as soon as they become available.

Remediation of the Katherine Aquatic Centre has been a joint effort between the Department of Defence, the YMCA and Council.

“We would like to thank everyone in our community for their patience and understanding while the issues at the pool were addressed and we will continue to work with the YMCA and Defence to ensure continuity of support to our community,” a spokeswoman said.

”The Department of Defence recognises the importance of contributing to valued public amenities such as the Katherine YMCA community swimming pool,” a defence department spokeswoman said.

The Tindal pool was opened to the public in early October after testing found elevated levels of PFAS chemicals above the national recreational water guideline.

“Defence, YMCA and the Katherine Town Council have worked together to resolve the issues and are pleased to support the reopening of the Katherine pool to the public,” the spokeswoman said.

“Defence continues to work with the Katherine Town Council to ensure support to the community. The SADFO Wing Commander Andrew Tatnell is grateful for the understanding of the community during this disruption.”

Defence will be holding two community walk-in sessions on December 4 and 6 at Knotts Crossing Resort, Katherine to provide local residents and business owners with information about the detailed environment investigations into the presence of PFAS on and in the vicinity of RAAF Bases Tindal.

The sessions will be held between 5-7pm.

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