Like so many things in the coming winter, wellness will probably also look different: If you prefer to while away the cold season in bubbling whirlpools, heated swimming pools or in the sauna, you will unfortunately have to reschedule. Due to the extremely high energy costs, more and more public bathing establishments in the district are turning down the temperatures. In this way, one hopes to be able to save electricity and yet not have to close it down.
In Kirchseeon, for example, the indoor pool, which was closed during the summer holidays for maintenance work, has to start the new season a little cooler: the water temperature there is regulated to a constant 28 degrees Celsius. In addition, the municipal administration has decided not to offer any warm bathing days for the time being. The water temperature had already been adjusted from 32 to 30 degrees Celsius before the summer holidays. The reason for this is the energy supply of the indoor swimming pool in Kirchseeon, which mainly runs on gas.
A bitter message, especially for some swimming courses that are offered in Kirchseeon. Swimming coach Jürgen Puls, for example, who runs baby swimming there, is considering holding these courses in the Glonn indoor pool instead. Cold water is counterproductive, especially for children who want to learn to swim or for very small children who are supposed to get used to the water. “The children feel every half a degree colder right away,” says Puls.
In the Kirchseeon indoor pool, the season will start cooler than before. The water in the pool is now 28 degrees.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
The situation in Glonn is a bit better than in other communities, since the indoor pool is not connected to the gas network. Instead, according to Puls, it is connected to the local district heating system via the school and no fossil fuels are used to operate it. When the indoor pool was renovated in 2014, attention was paid to using energy-saving lamps or motion detectors.
The water in the indoor swimming pool in Vaterstetten, which normally has a temperature of 29 degrees Celsius, has been cooled by two degrees for five months now. “It’s not a problem for swimmers,” says lifeguard Fadih Karabulut. Of course, if you’re in the water and don’t move, it gets cold quickly. Nevertheless, Karabulut describes the temperature as pleasant. When asked if there were any complaints, the pool attendant said: “Everyone reacts differently.”
It can get pretty chilly in some of the pools at the Badria water park in Wasserburg in the neighboring district of Rosenheim. The swimming pool there is cooled down to 26 degrees. The water in the children’s pool and water play garden as well as the hot and fun pools are 29 degrees. In addition, the warm bathing days will be canceled until further notice as a further measure to save energy.
The water in the Markt Schwaben indoor pool is 27 degrees warm – or cold, depending on how you feel.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
In the Markt Schwabener indoor swimming pool, too, you have to economize. From now on, the air temperature there will be adjusted to 29 degrees Celsius and the water temperature to 27 degrees Celsius, because of the current situation on the energy market and to save costs, they say. The sauna also only opens its doors twice a week, on Wednesdays for women and on Fridays for everyone, from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.