L'Aqualud

L'Aqualud, run by the Communauté d'Agglomération Bergeracoise, is an indoor aquatic centre on the Les Sardines business park in Bergerac, Dordogne. It works with ordinary treated and heated water rather than thermal or mineral water; the operator lists the pool temperatures as 29 °C in the small pool, 27.5 °C in the large pool and 30 °C in the jacuzzi. The heating is partly geothermal: the operator states that a borehole draws water from 171 metres of depth some 400 metres from the centre, that the water enters the building at 17.4 °C, circulates in a closed loop through the plant and is returned at 12 °C. Rooftop rainwater is reused for the toilets and thermal solar panels are said to cover 51 % of the heat for the shower hot water.

There is a 25-metre pool with six lanes homologated for competition (seven two-metre lanes in light training or leisure use) and a floor sloping from 1.20 m to 1.80 m; a learning pool with two 15-metre lanes, three massage alcoves, two geysers and a bubble bench; a 70 m² activity pool with a movable floor that can move from 0 to -4 metres; and a 22 m² children's play area (paddling pool) with differentiated water jets. The wellness area holds two saunas, a cold-water bath, a jacuzzi, a star-ceiling hammam, a sensation shower, a hydromassage shower and a conventional shower, plus its own outdoor terrace. Outside there are mineral terraces and a lawn solarium, and parking is free.

In school term the centre opens Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 12:00-13:30 and 18:00-20:30, Wednesday 9:30-11:30 and 14:00-18:00, Saturday 14:00-18:00 and Sunday 9:00-11:45; during school holidays it opens Monday to Friday 12:00-20:00, Saturday 14:00-18:00 and Sunday 9:00-11:45, and the same pattern applies in summer. It closes on public holidays. The operator describes the building as a new facility but gives no opening year.