Hampstead Heath ladies’ pond reopens after improved water test results
Protesters from the Save Our Ponds campaign on Sunday at the ladies' pond. Picture: 'Forum 71 - Credit: Archant
The ladies’ pond at Hampstead Heath reopened today after water tests returned improved results.
The City of London Corporation confirmed the pond will reopen for swimmers from 7am to 4.30pm, having closed for a second time in three weeks from unsafe levels of bacteria.
After closing on September 17 Kenwood Ladies’ Bathing Pond was closed again on October 4 due to high levels of E. coli.
The CoLC said it believed the bacteria was a result of “heavy rain which “washed impurities into the water” - but the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond Association has challenged it for the reduced testing regime over the summer and the risk posed to swimmers’ health.
A CoLC spokesperson said that tests are being carried out daily and that results over the weekend from Public Health England showed that the ladies’ pond water quality now meets the “correct standard to swim in”.
On Sunday, campaigners from Save Our Ponds took to the ladies’ pond to protest the CoLC’s actions since the sewage leak.
