A council spokesperson said the council was typically getting two or three code browns a month, causing shutdowns of anywhere between one and four hours.
Last week, however, there were at least two shutdowns — on Tuesday and Saturday — and a reader who contacted the Otago Daily Times said it seemed to be happening most Tuesday afternoons.
The spokesperson said "sadly, code browns are not uncommon at council aquatic facilities, especially when kids’ swim lessons are under way".
"Not only are they yucky, they’re also a real inconvenience for parents and other pool users, and add unnecessary cost to the normal running of these community facilities.
"Our team is trained to deal with them, including when they need to close the pool(s), but we always encourage parents to ensure their kids go to the toilet before entering the water.
"While it’s not always toddlers that have ‘little accidents’, our nappy policy states: ‘All children 3 and under must wear swim nappies and tight-fitting swimwear during their pool visit’.
"The key requirement is that there are two lines of defence — nappy and togs."
The closure period depended on the type of incident and also the time for one filtration system "turnover", which varied between different pools.
