The Pool Alliance Germany, an association of major interest groups in German pools, is calling for an end to the renovation backlog. And a rethinking of how pools should be operated in the future: all of this will cost more than the previously estimated 4.5 billion euros.
Two years of analysis with numerous workshops is now followed by the result: The pool alliance Germany presented its position paper “The Future of German Pools” on Monday in Berlin. In it, the merger of all the main interest groups in German pools, more than a dozen clubs and associations, some of which have a large number of members, indicates that the renovation backlog of 4.5 billion euros, which was last recorded in a study by the University of Wuppertal in 2016, is now likely to be higher. The Corona period “didn’t make the bathrooms less refurbished”. In many places, the time without bathing was used at best for cosmetic and technical repairs.
Many problems are now highlighted in the report. But there is no blame on the politicians, who had promised a Golden Plan Sport for the pools in 2020 through the then Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer – before Corona changed priorities again. For example, the German Life Saving Society DLRG, which also belongs to the pool alliance, pointed out for years that a pool closes forever in Germany every four days. Since the turn of the millennium, almost 2000 baths have already closed. The current report does not go into this, but comes to the conclusion instead: A pure renovation of the bathrooms is “not desirable”. Rather, it is a matter of determining how high the “needs-based investment need” is, “what is affordable” – in short: The pool alliance calls for a rethink towards the swimming pool of the future. However, it also emphasizes: “The need-based investment requirement will be higher than the current 4.5 billion.”
Demand: The federal government must support the municipalities
In the report, the municipalities are called upon to do this (“You don’t learn to swim in the classroom”), but the federal government is also called upon not to leave cities and communities alone. Because pools are “public places of added value. In addition to the compulsory task of school sports, modern pools are visited about half for reasons of public and club sports, the other half for reasons of health, exercise and family leisure time value,” says Christian Kuhn, spokesman of the pool alliance: “All of this shows that the federal, state and local governments must work together on sustainable financing of the pools in terms of investment and long-term operation.”
What does the pool of the future look like according to the pool alliance? It must be built and operated more cheaply. This is also possible through regional pool associations. Then bathrooms could become “management properties with multiple seven-digit sales”. Synergies would have to be used, multiple offers from sports, fitness and gastronomy could turn them into “lively places of city events”. a vision.
The status quo: There are currently around 6,500 publicly accessible pools – indoor, outdoor, natural and school pools. Most swimming pools were built between 1960 and 1992. According to the report, they would no longer suit modern leisure activities. And: At the moment, these old pools are usually the municipal facilities with the highest energy consumption – and thus large annual deficits, often in the millions. In terms of energy, you have to move away from the well-known gas-fired combined heat and power plants and towards a sustainable energy supply. So far, public utilities in many places have offset their profits against the deficits for the benefit of the municipalities (which would otherwise have had to close even more pools). The pool alliance comes to the conclusion that many pools are not managed efficiently.
Digital energy and utilization management is now necessary for the future. This also requires high investments. The pool alliance is in favor of continuing to operate the existing teaching pools at schools, but not rebuilding them or extensively renovating them. Instead, extensive suggestions are made as to what an effective, modern bathroom should look like in the future: lifting floors, partition walls, parent-child pools or small rehabilitation units that could also be used for school sports.
Desirable: A maximum of 15 minutes drive to swimming lessons
There is no demand for a number of pools, but the need must be determined regionally based on factors such as accessibility, number of schools and clubs, demographics and the needs of the population. Every school child must have the opportunity to learn to swim within a 30-minute drive; less than 15 minutes is desirable. Here the demand goes to the educational institutions for more block lessons. The pool alliance also recommends the revival of the school swimming working group at the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education of the federal states, with the involvement of clubs and associations. Christian Kuhn: “It doesn’t depend on the number of pools, but on the needs-based water surface and its distribution as well as accessibility.” The outdoor pools would experience the greatest revolution. The pool alliance recommends that they should be made less dependent on the weather – for example with convertible roofs.
More money and educational leave – because 2500 swimming champions are missing
Another starting point is the personnel problem. At least 2,500 swimming champions are missing nationwide, says the Federal Association of German Swimming Champions, also a member of the pool alliance. In many places, the DLRG has filled staff gaps with its lifeguards – but due to the pandemic it has also been able to train significantly fewer staff in the meantime. In many places, swimming pools could only open to a limited extent or remained completely closed.
Here the pool alliance points out that the profession of lifeguard urgently needs an image change. “Whereas the lifeguard used to be a person of respect, today the same fate befalls him as in almost all comparable professions such as the police, fire brigade and rescue services,” it says. In addition, there are unattractive working hours and poor pay with monthly salaries of less than 3,000 euros gross. There must be more money in the future, and “incentives such as educational leave to obtain the ability to rescue” would attract more staff and, on top of that, “lead to more security in Germany”. Lateral entry must also be made easier. In addition, however, modern surveillance systems with artificial intelligence are also required for the bathrooms of the future.
The problem areas must be addressed in the coming years, emphasized Michaela Röhrbein, head of sports development at the German Olympic Sports Confederation. The DOSB supports the Bäerallianz: “We need usable swimming pools. They are places for learning to swim, popular and competitive sports, health and rehabilitation sports, local recreation areas for the population and much more. Swimming pools are therefore part of public services in Germany and a necessary infrastructure for sports.”
The report concludes with a number of demands, such as support for socially disadvantaged families, for example the provision of swimwear and payment of entry and travel costs. Now it is the turn of the politicians who, according to Kuhn, asked the spa alliance to carry out this analysis. But that’s exactly what has been wrong for many years.