Pool Operator News

On October 4, 2018, 19 children who visited a public swimming pool in California were reportedly sickened by the pool chemicals and 12 were taken to the hospital for treatment.  None of the injuries ended up being life threatening, but it could have easily been worse.  Pool chemicals were to blame, per the media anyway.  See one of the news stories here.   We were not involved in investigating this incident in any way, so this post if purely conjecture...BUT...whenever we see these types of stories, we discuss them internally and hypothesize what may have happened.  In this case, one possibility that...

While touring the exhibit and vendor's hall at a recent aquatic management conference, we stumbled onto a product that we had heard of, seen installed at clients' pools, but had no direct experience working with.  Appearance-wise, it had a PLC control box/cabinet similar to a VFD or UV, a strange cylinder inside the cabinet, and some flexible poly tubing coming out.  Our brains went directly to ozone, but as we approached it became clear this was not ozone.  In talking with the rep he informed us that it was an AOP device...a device that created hydroxyl radical gas (a strong oxidizer and disinfectant) in...

  This picture shows several anodes from a medium pressure UV disinfection system installed on a swimming pool return line.  The anodes are in various conditions from brand new (top - #1) to completely disintegrated (bottom - #6) to illustrate how the sacrificial metal gets destroyed over time.  Ideally operators are checking and replacing anodes before you get to #4,5,6 above.  If we pulled an anode and it looked like #3, we'd change it out instead of return it.  #2 is debatable maybe - it would depending on how big of a job it was to get the anode removed.     More...

  To stabilize or not?  We get this question all the time from clients!  Here are a couple facts and recommendations when using stabilizer in your pool. In a pool environment, "stabilizer" is the same thing as "conditioner" is the same thing as "cyanuric acid".  Different words for the same product.   Stabilizer is 99.9% of the time an OPTIONAL product.  You do not have to add this product to your pool.  It does not help balance your water in any way, and it does not help your sanitizer (chlorine) work any better.  Completely optional.   Stabilizer does not come into your...

A pool operator at a small community pool in California mixes two common pool chemicals and accidentally creates a poisonous gas cloud that emanates from the pump room out onto the pool deck and makes 50 people sick, including kids in swim lessons and other patrons.  See the story and news video here from Mercury News: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/06/14/potentially-deadly-chemical-mix-gasses-20-at-san-jose-pool/   Safety Tips: 1.  Always add chemicals to water.  NEVER add water to chemicals.   2.  Don't mix chemicals before adding to the pool.   3.  Be sure your bucket/scoop is clean and does not contain chemical residue before adding a new chemical to a bucket. ...