Summer is right around the corner, but students won’t be using UNM pools any time soon.
The Olympic pool, Johnson pool and the therapy pool are all closed due to maintenance issues.
A pipe in the Olympic pool’s maintenance room burst, flooding the room with water after a planned power outage March 14, said Robert Notary, Physical Plant Department associate director. This is the second time the Olympic pool has been closed since March 2009. The pool was closed during winter break for tile repairs.
“The flooding didn’t cause any damages, but we’re still left with all this piping that needs to be replaced,” he said.
Notary said Physical Plant Department representatives were at the building when the power was shut off and stopped the flooding immediately.
A steam leak heated a length of pipe holding still water, Notary said. The water became so hot that the plastic pipe warped and caused the end of the pipe to explode.
He said UNM is not responsible for the flooding, but it has not yet been determined who will eventually pay the estimated $20,000 bill.
“Shutting off the electricity didn’t cause it, but it made the problem evident,” Notary said. “The root cause was the steam valve.”
UNM chose K.L. House Construction Co. to complete the remodel last year, and Notary said the company’s work should still be under warrantee.
President of K.L. House, Michael Brogdon said who pays the bill depends on who caused the damage. He said there is a possibility that UNM caused the flood by shutting off the pool’s power.
“If the University did something wrong, they’ll have to pay for it,” he said.
Brogdon said there are others who may be responsible as well, including plumbers, subcontractors and engineers.
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“We’ve tried to simulate the outage on this valve several times, and we can’t get it to malfunction in the mode that we thought it did,” he said. “We’re still trying to figure out what happened.”
, associate director of Recreational Services, said the Olympic pool may reopen on April 10, but the date is still tentative. He said that after all repairs are made, the pool must be turned back on. At that point, he said, there may still be other parts that were affected by the explosion and need to be replaced.
“After we do that we’ll determine if there are any other things that need to be repaired,” he said. “We’re hoping there’s not.”
Todd said many people have questioned why the pool is closed again.
“People are concerned,” he said. “They’re concerned that the pool isn’t open and wanting to know why.”
According to an e-mailed statement from Todd, more than 20 feet of piping needs to be replaced, as well as other mechanical equipment. Brogdon said one part must be reordered from Canada.
The therapy pool was automatically shut down because it’s in the same building as the Olympic pool.
Johnson pool has been closed since June of last year because its drains are no longer up to federal and state codes, Todd said. He said a reopening date for that pool hasn’t been set yet.
