Washington, Mt. Pleasant pools see ups, downs in attendance

As the weather this summer has fluctuated, so has local pool attendance, staff at the Washington and Mt. Pleasant aquatic centers told the Golden Triangle News Service.

'So far it's been hit or miss, depending on the day,” said Samantha VanHouten, a manager at the Washington Aquatic Center. 'The weather has not helped.”

Gary Grunow, the director of the Parks and Recreation department in Mt. Pleasant, directly attributed it to the weather.

'The weather controls the attendance at the pool, that's for sure,” Grunow said.

VanHouten said attendance saw a jump once Washington schools ended classes, when the pool hit capacity. Other times, a cooler and wetter summer than usual has tempered attendance. Washington has needed to close early once because of low attendance.

'We've had some really good days, and then we've had to close one day early because of low attendance,” VanHouten said.

The recent heat wave provided a boost in attendance, Van Houten added.

Grunow said it can get too hot, though, when the heat index approaches 110 or 115 degrees.

'When it gets too hot, it affects us a little bit negatively,” Grunow said.

The Mt. Pleasant pool has not hit capacity yet this summer but has been doing better more recently.

'July has been very good,” Grunow said. 'June got off to a slow start.”

Grunow said higher attendance does not hurt the Mt. Pleasant pool's hygiene because of the pool's automatic cleaning system. He said it consistently keeps the pH level of the water at 7.5 and the chlorine level between two and three.

Now Grunow is hoping for a strong August to finish off the summer.

'We're hoping in August to keep it up,” Grunow said.