What’s in the water –The importance of bather hygiene and cleanliness

Luke Griffiths

STA’s Technical Manager for Pool Plant

Types of Commercial Pool and Recreational Water Systems

Types of Commercial Pool and Recreational Water Systems

▪ Whatever the type of pool the specification should be sufficient for the usage. Providing safe bathing and adequate water treatment

▪ Under specified pools will never provide good water quality and over specified pools will be overly expensive

▪ Operators must consider the programme of use, ensure the plant specification is suitable; and appropriately trained and qualified personnel are on hand to maintain it.

The Objectives of Pool Water Quality

▪ Hygienically safe for bathers, operators, and other persons

▪ Water at a pH that is comfortable for bathers, and provides optimum conditions for effective disinfection and flocculation/ coagulation

▪ Water that is at a temperature that is comfortable for users and does not compromise bathers and staff health and safety

▪ Water that is clear and bright where all parts of the tank can be clearly seen for lifeguarding to promote bather safety.

The Objectives of Pool Plant Operations

▪ A quality experience for users

▪ Optimisation of safe operation in relation to design and day to day running

▪ Balance the water to achieve a set of conditions which will not cause corrosion but will maintain the water in a slightly scale forming condition

▪ The above achieved as effectively and economically as possible.

Pollution

▪ The majority of dangerous pollution introduced by bathers is initially found in the top 150mm of the water

Chemical Pollution

Chemical Pollution

Chemical Pollution

▪ Chemicals added for water treatment: Chlorine, PAC etc

▪ Chemicals bought in by bathers: Fake tan, Hair Dye(Cosmetics) etc

Tip:

Always encourage people to shower beforeswimming. It would cut disinfectant costsdramatically in the UK if we enforced showersbefore swimming.

Chemical Pollution

▪ As the water becomes more chemically polluted its ability to conduct electricity changes, hence, we can use a TDS meter

▪ TDS should be no higher than 1000mg/l above the source water level

▪ Or no higher than 1500mg/l for pools using sodium hypochlorite generated on site by electro-chlorination.

“The solution to pollution is dilution.”

▪ The TDS reading together with combinedchlorine can indicate the need for dilution

▪ This can be linked to the backwashingfrequency

▪ The only way to reduce chemical pollution is by dilution

▪ PWTAG recommend 30 litres per bather.

Physical Pollution

▪ Anything that can be seen and touched

▪ Goggles

▪ Skin flakes

▪ Sand

▪ Pieces of floats

▪ Plasters

▪ Etc...

Physical Pollution

Trapped by:

▪ Sweeping

▪ Scooping

▪ Vacuuming

▪ Strainer Baskets.

Biological Pollution

▪ Comes from:

▪ The bathers

▪ Polluted water

▪ Algae

▪ 75% of biological pollution is located in the top150mm of the pool water

▪ Pathogenic – harmful

▪ Non-pathogenic – harmless

▪ Mostly controlled by disinfection.

Biological Pollution - Algae

▪ Prevention of algae is easier than removing algal growth

▪ Good filtration, flocculation/ coagulation and effective circulation

▪ maintaining sufficient disinfectant levels and vacuuming daily are key to the prevention of algae.

Diseases and Infections

Pathogenic and non-pathogenic organisms can spread through:

▪ Users using pools whilst being infected

▪ Poor bather hygiene

▪ Inefficient cleaning and maintenance of ancillary facilities, pool equipment and surfaces

▪ Inadequate water treatment i.e. insufficient levels of disinfection, poor filtration practices.

Diseases and Infections

Biofilms

▪ Microorganisms, or organisms too small to seewith the naked eye, are the building blocks forbiofilms

▪ Different species of bacteria, protozoans,algae, yeasts and fungi can form biofilms

▪ With most biofilms ranging from a few microns to hundreds of microns (one micron being one-millionth of a meter) in thickness.

Biofilms

▪ Generally, all that’s needed is a surfacesubmerged in water, microorganisms and favourable conditions

▪ Stagnant water in drainage channels, balance tanks and overflow channel surfaces

▪ The availability of nutrients - body fats, skin particles, phosphates (from pool or other chemicals) and general organic contamination

▪ Wet contaminated surfaces such as floats and inflatables.

Biofilms

▪ With microorganisms often at the mercy of their environments, it's amazing how something as small as a bacterium can hold onto a surface to settle in to its new home and develop rapidly into a biofilm

▪ This is why correct chemical cleansing and when necessary physical scrubbing is needed.

Biofilm - Illustration

▪ Biofilms can rapidly develop into high risk colonies where huge numbers of bacteria can grow inside the system

▪ If not controlled will spread and infect exposed bathers.

Microbiological Testing

▪ In the event of any health problems

▪ Following gross contamination events

▪ Following major works to treatment system.

Microbiological Testing

▪ At the following frequencies:

Frequency of Microbiological TestsSwimming Pools Monthly

Spas MonthlyInteractive Water

Features Monthly (if summer use, before start

of season, then monthly)Hydrotherapy Pools Weekly

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa -Infection

Cryptosporidium & Giardia

▪ Immune to levels of disinfection that swimming pools operate at

▪ Float towards the pool surface

▪ Small size (3-5 microns) means they will pass through a sand filter without continuous flocculation/ coagulation

▪ Outbreaks have been linked to poor design, lack of knowledge by operators and users. As well as poor or no emergency procedures for dealing with faecal release incidents.

Cryptosporidium & Giardia

▪ Chances are that Cryptosporidium and Giardia will, at some time, be present in significant quantities in any pool, so a strategy must be in place to deal with the potential hazard

▪ Reactive protocols for dealing with faecal incidents should be in place and followed

▪ But also proactive measures of preventing incidents should not be underestimated.

Promoting Healthy Swimming

▪ By following simple design recommendations and implementing reasonable pre-swim procedures the safety and quality of the water and air can be significantly improved

▪ Changing rooms should be designed to minimise the amount of pollution getting into pools. To promote healthy, hygienic swimming access to the pool from the changing rooms should be through the toilet area and then the pre-swim shower area, allowing bathers to shower after using the toilet.

Promoting Healthy Swimming

▪ Where possible shower cubicles and soap (potentially) should be provided so users can thoroughly wash their private areas to further reduce contaminants getting into the pool.

Nappy Facilities

▪ Convenient nappy changing facilities should be provided within the changing area and should be accessible for male and female users. They should be clean, nappy disposal bins should be provided and emptied regularly.

Pre-Swim/ Exclusions Policy

▪ Do not:

▪ Swim if you have diarrhoea or have suffered a diarrhoeal illness within the last 48 hours

▪ Swim if you have been diagnosed with cryptosporidiosis until 14 days after diarrhoea has stopped

▪ Swim if you are currently suffering with a contagious infection

▪ Swim if you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol

▪ Pee in the pool.

▪ Please ensure:

▪ You use the toilet before swimming

▪ You shower thoroughly before swimming with soap (including babies and children)

▪ Babies, children still using nappies and incontinent adults should wear an appropriate swimming nappy and tight fitted swimming pants.

Posters

▪ Posters are one way of communicating the message

▪ But it shouldn’t stop at posters

▪ The policies and procedures should be communicated to all staff and staff should understand the importance of pre-swim hygiene.

Communication

▪ Staff should be empowered to advise users of the pre-swim practices and the reasons for them

▪ Re-enforce policy to members and parents through newsletters, flyers, emails etc

▪ There should be an emphasis on raising awareness of pre-swim hygiene with children using the swimming pools

▪ Pre-swim guidance could be included as part of swim school induction

▪ Teaching children about pre-swim hygiene and getting them into good habits from an early age will hopefully stay with them through to adulthood.

Healthy Swimming

▪ Benefits of bather hygiene

▪ Improves the quality of the water and air

▪ Can save the facility on utility costs; less water required for backwashing, resulting in less energy required to heat the water, less pool chemical usage

▪ Reduces the risk of a faecal incident in the pool which can lead to pool closures, outbreaks, a loss in revenue or even legal fees from resulting outbreaks.

Cleanliness and Hygiene in the Pool Environment

▪ Operators wanting to ensure a hygienic facility and good water quality should ensure the cleanliness of the facilities and equipment

▪ Contamination can be picked up by users on route to the pool, and transferred to the pool

▪ Operators must have a suitable cleaning regime in place to remove pollution before it is transferred to the pool.

Cleanliness and Hygiene in the Pool Environment

▪ The floors in the changing area, toilet and shower facilities should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected daily

▪ Pool surrounds should be cleaned and scrubbed daily before opening or after closing with chlorinated water

▪ Proprietary chemical cleaners should be avoided altogether if possible. They may contain surfactants that affect the monitoring of chlorine residual and cause foaming or introduce phosphates, which promote algal growth.

Cleanliness and Hygiene in the Pool Environment

▪ Physical pollution such as dirt, hair, bits of goggles etc, gathers at the bottom of the pool tank

▪ If sufficient disinfection is not maintained and good hydraulics then biological pollutants such as algae can grow on the pool tank if the right conditions are present, particularly warmer temperatures and in sunlight

▪ To prevent the pool floor looking uninviting to customers and algae flourishing the pool tank should be regularly cleaned, at least daily.

Cleanliness and Hygiene in the Pool Environment

▪ The options for cleaning the pool tank are:

▪ Sweeping by hand

▪ Manual pool vacuum system

▪ Automatic pool vacuum system.

Cleanliness and Hygiene in the Pool Environment

▪ Freeboard and skimmer pools require regular cleaning of the water line. Due to the body fats and other pollutants from bathers being distributed to the wall surfaces. The ‘scum marks’ can be cleaned off using cleaning pads and sodium bicarbonate

▪ Equipment used in pools such as inflatables, foam floats, armbands, toys, canoes etc, can all harbour bacteria

▪ Pool equipment used in and around pools should be risk assessed and appropriate cleaning regimes put in place.

Examples of poor practice

Examples of poor practice

Examples of poor practice

Examples of poor practice

Examples of poor practice

Thank you for listening

▪ Any questions?

▪ Luke.Griffiths@sta.co.uk

▪ 01922 748388

Anchor House, Birch Street, Walsall, West Midlands WS2 8HZ

Tel: +44(0)1922 645097 | Fax: +44(0)1922 720628 | Email: sta@sta.co.uk | www.sta.co.uk

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“The preservation of human life by the teaching of swimming, lifesaving and survival techniques”.