Port Kembla Pool will reopen at 10am on Saturday 21 December.
The pool is reopening after late night works yesterday to set up a temporary solution using plastic pipeline that would allow the pool to draw in seawater.
"We know how much the community wants to see this pool reopened and we're not ones to shy away from an engineering challenge when it comes to sea pools,'' Wollongong City Council director Infrastructure and Works Andrew Carfield said.
"We are testing this temporary extension of the pipeline as an interim solution that will allow us to reopen the pool while we explore other long-term options to make the intake pipe more reliable while the beach has such a high level of sand on it.''
The temporary pipeline may need to be removed from the surf if there was a large swell.
"We would keep a close eye on sea conditions and bring the flexible pipeline in if large swell was to impact the coastline,'' Mr Carfield said.
"This means we'd also have to close the pool. However, large swell would also help move sand about on the beach so it could potentially mean the original intake pipes would be able to work again.''
The pool has been closed since late November with significant amounts of sand on and around Port Kembla Pool's intake pipes meaning the equipment was unable to draw seawater into the saltwater pool.
Last week Council was given State Government permission to bring machinery onto the beach to carry out work to remove the sand covering the intake pipe. However, while sand was moved away from the intake pipe the sea and tide movements quickly moved the sand back into place blocking the inlet.
The high volume of sand on Port Kembla Beach, along with other beaches across the region, is due to the combination of calm sea conditions over the past three years and a predominant pattern of south easterly waves which move sand in a northerly direction. This relatively calm period has seen greater sand accumulation at the northern ends of our beaches rather than being periodically eroded under more stormy conditions. This is a natural process and is due to a prolonged period of stable weather without major storms and associated sea conditions.
