A malfunction in the chlorine injection system at New Plymouth's aquatic centre sent a wave of fumes over youngsters in the centre's spa pool today, with eight of them taken to hospital with coughing.
At last report, seven were expected to be discharged tonight, while one faced the prospect of a night under observation.
The fault happened just after 5pm after repairs to a faulty valve in the main pump room, said Todd Energy Aquatic centre manager Mike Roberts.
When the system was turned on, the automatic spa chlorine injector wrongly sensed there was no chlorine in the spa and tried to compensate, he said.
There were about 10 people in the spa pool, but only those sitting at one end were affected by the fumes, which were not bad enough to affect the main pool or require a full scale evacuation of the centre.
