Public swimming pools begin reopening in Reykjavík area following hot water outage

In the capital region of Iceland, public swimming pools are beginning to reopen following a recent hot water outage. The first pools to open will be Suðurbæjarlaug in Hafnarfjörður, which is set to welcome visitors starting at noon today. Residents of Hafnarfjörður will be the first to access the facilities.

Both Suðurbæjarlaug and Ásvallalaug were initially slated to open at noon, along with the Sundhöllin pool later in the day. Utilities began restoring hot water to neighborhoods that had been cut off since Monday evening, and full pressure is expected to be achieved by midday.

In Kópavogur, pools will also reopen today, with Salalaug expected to open later in the afternoon as temperatures rise to safe levels. Kópavogslaug has a scheduled opening time of 6 PM, although the manager hopes to open earlier if possible.

However, some pools, including Breiðholtslaug and those in Garðabær and Álftanes, will remain closed until tomorrow morning due to the ongoing recovery process. Árbæjarlaug is facing more complex issues as it has been impacted indirectly by the water outage. The pool had to temporarily switch to a water source with higher acidity, leading to elevated chlorine levels that have caused delays in its reopening. The director now expects that it may not open until Friday morning, although efforts will be made to open earlier if conditions allow.