The Basics of Clear, Clean Pool Water

Aquatic facility managers must juggle a range of daily tasks and challenges, but ensuring the water is safe is one of the most critical.

Ideally, you have a preventive maintenance plan, created as part of your design process, which helps ensure you are proactive. By following your plan and performing maintenance tasks in a timely manner, you'll prevent problems and emergencies that might lead to a shutdown. But beyond that, your facility also should have a sanitization system specified to your exact needs.

Sanitization & More

It all begins with a well-functioning water maintenance solution. Your sanitization system should be designed specifically for your pool, taking a variety of inputs into account, such as the size of the pool, the typical bather load, hours of operation, and whether the pool is located outdoors or indoors.

The best way to maintain consistent water quality is with a system that relies on chlorination as a primary method of sanitization, with controllers that will adjust to changes in the pool as they occur. In addition, clarifiers and coagulants can help lower your sanitizer consumption and prevent problems.

Most of all, you'll want to stick to best practices, following your maintenance plan and testing the water on a regular basis. Regular testing allows you to adjust to changes as they occur, preventing any problems from getting out of hand. You can test the water manually, or with controllers and feeders.

Training & Staff

Whether you test manually or rely on feeders and controllers, you'll want well-trained staff on hand who understand best practices in maintaining water balance and sanitizer residuals.

Your lifeguards are your first line of defense. Their top priority is to watch for struggling swimmers, but because this requires crystal clear water that allows them to see to the bottom of the pool, they might be among the first to notice something has gone amiss.

Proper training and a regular routine will prevent problems with your pool's water, but they can also help protect your staff. Chlorine can be dangerous, so ensure any staff members who handle it are properly trained. Consider chlorine tablets instead of liquid chlorine, which is more challenging to store and handle.