The first training venue for the City of Southend-on-Sea Swimming Club, this long pool running parallel with the shore was opened in 1915. Images of the pool almost look like it is floating in the sea!
The pool was built on a concrete base with curved sides to deflect the wave power.
In 1969, following the opening of a new indoor pool in the town centre, the pool was used as a dolphinarium. Parts of the existing building remain and in 1987 the Westcliff Casino, today Genting Casino, was built on the site covering the pool. There are images online showing what is apparently the original pool under the casino but they do not look anything like the original pool and are too narrow.
| Name | Southend Seawater Bathing Pool, aka Westcliff Open Air Pool Western Esplanade, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 7QY |
| Built / opened | 1915 |
| Cost | |
| Dimensions | 330′ x 70′ |
| Capacity | 660,000 gallons |
| Water type | Filtered sea water |
| Depth(s) | |
| Diving boards | |
| Changing facilities | |
| Second pool | N/A |
| Spectator seating | |
| Designer | E J Elford |
| Date closed | Pre-1975 |
| Status | Repurposed |
| On site now | Casino built on original buildings, not clear if pool remains |
| Notes | |
| Links |
Baths and Baths Engineering, April 1936
Western Esplanade Open-air Pool.
The provision of filtration plant at the existing open-air swimming pool on the Western Esplanade at Southend was a matter which had received the attention of the council for some time. It must be appreciated that as this pool had been in existence for some time, the provision of filtration plant for so large a quantity of water presented some little difficulty as regards the provision of suitable space for the filtration plant and also the building into the existing structure of the circulating pipes required for the new plant. It was, therefore, finally decided that in order to provide a suitable filter house a wall should be built across the shallow end of the bath and the space thus enclosed should be roofed over in order to form the filter house. In addition to this the circulating pipes from the deep end of the pool had to be broken into and connections made from the new pipes which were laid in the existing sea water tanks below the promenade on the seaside of the pool. The roof of the new filter house was adapted for use as an additional sunbathing area, a staircase, leading down to the bath surround level, being part of the lay-out.
The filtration and sterilisation plant, also the heating apparatus, were installed by Bell Bros. (Manchester, 1927), Ltd. The work was completed in September 1936.
The general details of the plant are as follows : Two centrifugal pumps driven by electric motors; three 8 ft. by 23 ft. long horizontal pressure filters, together with suitable chemical apparatus, chlorinator and ammoniator; aerator, flow meters tor indicating the quantity of water passing through the plant; heating apparatus, comprising an electrically heated boiler for supplying hot water to a suitable calorifier, the whole of the plant being coupled to the pool by means of connections from the existing suction pipe and delivery through the new wall forming the shallow end of the pool by means of five specially designed adjustable inlets.
The plant is capable of dealing with the whole of the contents of the swimming pool once every six hours when dealing with 110,000 gal. of water per hour.
The cycle of operation is as follows: The electrically driven pumps draw the water from the deep end of the pool and the water first of all passes through a specially designed strainer box containing a removable strainer which, it is claimed, takes out all the larger impurities from the water such as leaves, fluff from bathing costumes, towels, etc. After leaving the pumps suitable quantities of chemicals are added by means of the chemical apparatus provided and the water then passes through the three pressure filters. The water is afterwards aerated by means of a “Bell” combined cascade and pressure type aerator.
The heating of the water is carried out by means of an electrically heated boiler supplied by Messrs. Bastian and Allen, Ltd. London, together with the necessary control panel, pipework, wiring, etc. From this boiler steam is fed to a suitable calorifier through which the water passes on its return to the swimming pool.
The final treatment of the water is carried out by means of an ammoninator and chlorinator. The water is then returned to the shallow end of the pool through the inlets.
The two accompanying illustrations, taken from practically the same spot in the swimming pool, show the clarity of the water both by night as well as by day.
The operation of filtering continues until such times as the pressure gauges provided on the filters indicate that by reason of the dirt extracted from the water the filter beds require washing. This is carried out simply by the manipulation of the necessary valves and as three filters are installed filtered water is available for the washing process. When the filters are being washed the filter bed is first of all broken up by means of compressed air supplied by an electrically driven “Bell” air compressor. The dirt is then washed away by means of a reverse flow of filtered water
An advantage derived from the strainers and collecting pipes at the bottom of the filters is that one grade of sand only can be used and as this grade is a very fine one, the whole of the filtering medium is available for efficient filtration.
