Amsterdam municipality makes pools one degree colder

Municipal swimming pools in Amsterdam have set the water one degree colder to combat rising energy costs, NH Nieuws reports. Some swimmers are still adjusting to the change in temperature.

Gas prices have skyrocketed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February and, as a result, the municipality will have to pay more for energy. For consumers, the gas prices is three times higher than last year, according to NH Nieuws.

"In order to secure the future and not that we will be confronted with huge price increases at the end, both on the gas and on the ticket, we are now lowering the temperature as a precaution,” Marco van der Horst, interim manager of De Mirandabad in Rivierenbuurt, told NH Nieuws. There, the indoor and outdoor pools are both one degree lower in temperature.

Most swimmers in Mirandabad’s outdoor pool said they noticed the temperature change, but they are divided on whether or not it is a good thing. On told NH Nieuws the water now felt five degrees colder. "I would almost say a stroke of luck, it's even more delicious,” another swimmer told the news outlet. “You feel like a king afterwards, so good."