New & Improved Leisure Pool Features at Breckland Leisure Centre & Waterworld

We are excited to announce that significant improvements to the Leisure Pool provision at Breckland Leisure Centre & Waterworld are now complete, resulting from a £108,000 investment project to upgrade and reconfigure the existing water features.

The project has enhanced the existing swimming pool facilities by introducing more modern, colourful, and interactive play equipment at the shallow end of the Leisure Pool, while also utilising the redundant old spa pool area.

The wave machine, rapids channel, and beach area bubble pad have been retained, with the water mushroom replaced with the following features:

1 x Interactive Waterball. The waterball includes a variety of features including:

• 2 x fill’n’spill buckets. The buckets will be filled via waterball jets. Children can tip the buckets to ‘spill’ water back into the pool.
• 2 x interactive handwheels. Each wheel connects to a 4-way valve allowing children to control the water flow to 8 waterball jets.
• 2 x cannon jets. These are high volume, low pressure jets that create a gentle flow of water into the pool.
• 2 x interactive water channels. The channels each feature 2 paddles that allow children to manipulate the flow of water through them and back into the pool. The channels are fed via one of the cannon jets and are set at different heights to create a cascading effect.
• 3 x themed fish squirt arms - These bright and colourful fish are hanging from arms above the waterball, squirting water out into the beach area.

1x Interactive Mast - The interactive mast consists of 3 interactive arms and a mast top feature as described below:

• 1 x large waterwheel arm. The wheel is propelled via a jet in the arm causing it to spin water in several directions.
  1 x large tipping bucket arm. The bucket will gradually fill via a jet in the arm. When a critical fill level is reached the bucket is forced to tip, splashing litres of water onto those below.
  1 x pipefalls arm. Water jets out of the arm creating an arch of water into the pool.
  1 x large tipping bucket and splash board. The bucket will gradually fill via a water jet until a critical fill level is reached. At this point the bucket is forced to tip, pouring litres of water onto the splash board below. The splash board then disperses the water over a wide area creating a great visual impact and anticipatory play.

1 x 1 x Toddler Slide - The slide features a bright and colourful design with a tactile surface, moving elements and mirrors to add an additional element of play to a traditional toddler slide.

Finally, the redundant spa pool area has been transformed into a colourful, aquatic-themed interactive play area designed to excite and stimulate a range of users. This area aims to develop auditory, visual and mental stimulation for less water-confident customers and those with SEN who may prefer to play on the pool side as opposed to from in the water itself.

Subject to final commissioning and testing these features will be fully operational during all Public Swimming sessions from Saturday 12 September.

During Public Swimming sessions the Interactive Waterball and Mast will operate as part of a rolling 18-minute features sequence with the Wave Machine and Rapids Channel; as has historically been the case with the old Water Mushroom:

• 6-minutes - Wave Machine
• 6-minutes - Rapids Channel
• 6-minutes  - Waterball & Mast

The Flume, Toddler Slide, and Interactive Play Area will be available throughout each session.

For customers specifically wanting to experience the Waterball & Mast, these will operate constantly during the following Parent & Child Swimming sessions effective from the week commencing Monday 14 September:

• Monday - Friday (12PM - 1PM)
• Saturday (5PM - 6PM)
• Sunday (9AM - 10AM)

The timetable will remain under review with additional sessions added subject to demand and pool availability.

We have been fortunate to have been granted funding for this project by the board members of Lex Leisure, following the submission of a detailed proposal, which highlighted the various benefits of improving the inclusivity of our Leisure Pool facilities.

The Leisure Pool and features at Breckland Leisure Centre & Waterworld were already very popular during school holidays and at weekends. However, the delivery of this project will provide more inclusive leisure pool facilities that can be accessed safely by non-swimmers and customers with mental, sensory and physical disabilities.

The project proposal was developed in partnership with the interactive water play company, Hippo Leisure. Hippo design their water play areas to include play features at varying levels in order to allow customers of any height, age or ability to gain access. Furthermore their features are specifically designed to allow ample wheelchair space to offer less able or wheelchair bound customers the same interactive play opportunities.

By utilising the shallow water in the Leisure Pool ‘beach’ area and redundant spa pool to install interactive play equipment it is anticipated that this project will enhance the current swimming pool provision for children with disabilities, and both children and adults with complex needs who are unable to access the Learner Pool, Main Pool, and aspects of the Leisure Pool such as the flume and wave machine during normal public swimming operation. The interactive play equipment will also provide the added benefit of improving water confidence in toddlers and young non-swimmers through interactive water play in shallow water.

The interactive play equipment will enhance the inclusivity of existing public leisure/fun swim sessions, and accessible swimming sessions, but also add value to our existing Adaptive Swimming lesson programme and Swimability sessions for children with special educational needs and physical disabilities.