Cleaning Schedule 

Randwick City Council does not use any chemicals to clean or maintain our ocean pools. Ocean pools are regularly inspected by Council staff and when required they are steam cleaned.

This pool is scheduled for cleaning every week, Cleaning occurs mostly on Thursdays, however, this program can change at very short notice due to tidal and weather conditions impacting upon the access and cleanliness of the pool.

The cleanliness of the water and amount of algae build up on the steps, walls and floor can change with weather conditions and tidal wash which can sometimes wash seaweed and other material into the pool The water inlets are dependent upon tidal conditions and the pumps are programmed to operate for several hours during each high tide however this will only activate when the conditions allow.

Council regularly remove weed from the pool and when tidal and weather conditions allow however we are not able to remove seagrass as under NSW DPI legislation which protects mangroves, seagrasses and seaweeds on public water land and foreshores.

History

By the 1890s, written records refer to a; “Fine rock pool formed with boulders [existing] on the south side of Long Bay, near the site of the present Randwick Golf Club” (p. 63 From Malabar to Long Bay: A village by the sea by Patrick Kennedy) By 1909 public sea bathing was free at this pool location proving very popular with the locals. This same year the Malabar Public School was opened, and the Cromwell Park Jubilee Fountain was erected in Cromwell Park celebrating the first 50 years of local government in Randwick City.

Due to increasing pollution from the Malabar sewerage outfall Malabar pool and the beach were eventually declared off limits to swimmers. The Water Board (later Sydney Water) took little notice of the resident action groups and their protests over the poor quality of the sea water at Malabar which was the subject of resident protests as early as March 1957 when 300 residents marshalled in Cromwell Park, objecting to the poor quality of the water. (p. 340 Randwick by Pauline Curby)

With little use due to water quality issues for several decades, the pool fell into disrepair. Following the opening of the deep ocean outfall for sewage in 1990 the water eventually became clear and clean once more. Malabar Beach became fit for swimming again. Local schools lobbied for the ocean pool to be upgraded and re-opened for swimming carnivals. This eventually happened in March 1997 thanks to funding from Randwick City Council, Sydney Water and NSW Department of Water Conservation.