The local government plans by the end of the year to require all public swimming pools in the city to inform swimmers about the number of people in the pool at a given time, an official told the Global Times Thursday.

The measure aims to save crowd conscience pool-goers time and curb overcrowding in the city's swimming pools.

As the city's pools fill up during the hot summer months, the crowds of swimmers may disappoint pool-goers who hoped to cool off in a less congested environment, said Lü Yihe, director of the business department of the Shanghai Social Sports Management Center. The center oversees the city's swimming pools and other athletic facilities.

To deal with the problem, the center launched a pilot program last week, in which it had three public swimming pools in Yangpu district and Pudong New Area post the number of swimmers in their pools throughout the day, Lü said. The notice allowed people on their way into the pool to go elsewhere if they were uncomfortable with the number of swimmers, Lü said.

He added that the notice may also improve safety at the swimming pools. By requiring pool operators to post the number of the swimmers, it effectively forces them to obey regulatory limits on how many people can be in the pool at one time.

According to the city's regulations on public swimming facilities, a pool's capacity is set at 2.5 square meters per person.

The Shulan Swimming Pool in Yangpu district, one of the three pools in the pilot program, updates its approximate number of swimmers every 90 minutes, said Lu Wen, the pool's director.

Lu said that the staff stops letting people into the 400-square-meter pool once the number of swimmers reaches 150.

Meanwhile, the center distributed roughly 2,000 red swimming caps to public swimming pools in July.

The pools are supposed to give the caps to swimmers over 70 years old in order to help lifeguards keep an eye on them.

However, many seniors are reluctant to wear the caps, as some regard them as a form of discrimination, Lü said.