Public Swimming Pool and Spa Pool Advisory Document

1 Public Swimming Pool and Spa Pool Advisory DocumentPublic Swimming pool and spa pool Advisory documentThis work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale. Health Protection NSW 2013 HEALTH PROTECTION NSW 73 Miller Street NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2060 Tel. (02) 9391 9000 Fax. (02) 9391 9101 TTY. (02) 9391 9900 more information, please contact your local Public Health Unit whose contact details can be found at Document is intended as a guide and represents a compendium of information on disinfection of Public Swimming pools. Every reasonable effort has been made to give reliable data and information. No warranty as to the completeness of the information is given. The NSW Ministry of Health and its employees disclaim all liability and responsibility for any direct and indirect loss or damage which may be suffered through reliance on any information contained in or omitted from this Document .

2 No person should act solely on the basis of the information contained in this Document , without first taking appropriate professional advice about their obligations in specific citation: Health Protection NSW. Public Swimming pool and spa pool Advisory Document . Sydney: (EH) 130037 ISBN 978 1 74187 896 7 April 2013 Public Swimming Pool and Spa Pool Advisory Document NSW HeAltH PAGe 1 AcknowledgementsThere were many contributions made in the development of this Advisory Document . In particular NSW Health would like to acknowledge the Swimming Pool Industry Group, and the organisations below who provided direction and and Recreation InstituteCollingridge and AssociatesFulham Engineering Services Pty LtdPallintest AustraliaProMinent Fluid Controls Pty LtdStevenson and Associates Pty LtdSiemens Water TechnologiesTrisley s Hydraulic ServicesBellingen Shire CouncilLeichhardt Municipal CouncilRyde City CouncilShoalhaven City CouncilWarringah CouncilPoolwerxTim Batt Water Solutions Pty LtdSwimming is an important recreational activity.

3 Learning to swim prevents drowning. Swimming promotes good physical, mental and cardiovascular health. In properly managed pools the benefits of Swimming far outweigh any risk. (WHO 2006)PAGe 2 NSW HeAltH Public Swimming Pool and Spa Pool Advisory DocumentContents 4 Quick start for pool operators ..5A. Chemical criteria ..5B. Chemical testing ..5C. Microbiological criteria ..5D. Fact sheets ..5E. Pool occupiers information sheet ..5 Chapter 1: Introduction .. Overview .. Purpose .. Scope and application .. Disease risk from Swimming pools .. Legislation .. Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) .. NSW Health website ..8 Chapter 2: Microbial health risks and transmission .. Overview .. Micro-organisms .. Viral pathogens .. Bacterial pathogens .. Protozoan pathogens .. Fungal pathogens .. Disease transmission theory .. Transmission of micro-organisms in Swimming pools .. Conclusions ..13 Chapter 3: Microbiological criteria and sampling.

4 Overview .. Indicator micro-organisms .. Microbiological criteria .. Heterotrophic plate count (HPC) .. Escherichia coli (E. coli) .. Pseudomonas aeruginosa .. Microbiological sampling .. Sampling technique .. Timeliness .. Interpretation .. Chemical criteria .. Database .. Micro-organism risk factors ..18 Chapter 4: Disinfection .. Overview .. Disinfectant properties .. Disinfection concepts .. Characteristics of various Chlorine-based disinfectants that produce hypochlorous acid ..20(i) Free available chlorine (free chlorine) ..21(ii) The effect of pH on chlorine disinfection power ..21(iii) Total chlorine, free chlorine and combined chlorine ..22(iv) Bather pollution and the formation of chloramines ..22(v) Reducing chloramines ..23(vi) Stabilised chlorine cyanurate products and cyanuric acid ..23(vii) Electrolytic generation of hypochlorous acid .. Bromine-based disinfectants ..24(i) The hydrolysis of bromine to form hypobromous acid.

5 25(ii) The formation of bromamines ..25(iii) The effect of pH on bromine disinfection power ..25(iv) Isocyanuric acid and bromine ..26(v) Breakpoint bromination and super-bromination .. Chlorine dioxide .. Other disinfection systems .. Disinfection by-products (DPBs) ..27 Public Swimming Pool and Spa Pool Advisory Document NSW HeAltH PAGe 3 Chapter 5: Disinfection chemical criteria, other chemicals, sampling and monitoring .. Overview .. Chemical criteria .. Dosing .. Chlorine systems chemical criteria .. Bromine systems chemical criteria .. Alternate disinfection systems .. Oxidation-reduction potential .. Pool operating periods .. Other chemicals used in Swimming pools .. Chemicals for raising pH ..30(i) Soda ash (sodium carbonate Na2CO3) ..30(ii) Bicarb (sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3 pH buffer) .. Chemicals for lowering pH ..31(i) Dry acid (sodium bisulphate NaHSO4) ..31(ii) Hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid HCl) ..31(iii) Carbon dioxide (CO2).

6 Other chemicals ..31(i) Calcium chloride (CaCl2) ..31(ii) Potassium monopersulphate (KHSO4) ..31(iii) Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) ..31(iv) Ozone (O3) ..31(v) Sodium thiosulphate ( ) ..32(vi) Isocyanuric acid (C3N3O3H3) (Cyanuric Acid) ..32(vii) (viii) Flocculants .. Health and safety issues of chemicals .. Disinfection by-products .. Frequency of pool testing .. Sampling location .. Testing equipment and testing .. Other chemical and physical parameters .. Record keeping ..36 Chapter 6: Managing water quality .. Overview .. Chlorine demand .. Chemical dosing control equipment .. Continuous metered disinfectant dosing system .. Oxidation-reduction potential .. Direct chlorine residual measurement (amperometric) .. Automatic controllers .. pH probes .. Water balancing .. Overview .. pH .. Total alkalinity .. Calcium hardness .. Temperature .. Langelier saturation index .. Corrosive water The Ryznar index .. Backwashing of sand filters.

7 Reuse of backwash water (externally) .. Recycling of Swimming pool backwash wastewater .. Minimising pool pollution .. Restricting bather load and encouraging bather hygiene .. Total dissolved solids .. Water sources ..44(i) Mains water ..44(ii) Borewater ..44(iii) Rainwater (roof water) Prevention and control of chloramines in indoor aquatic centres .. Education .. Superchlorination .. Shock dosing ..45(i) Chlorine dioxide ..45(ii) Potassium monopersulphate .. Ultra violet light treatment systems .. Ozone .. Granulated activated carbon filters .. Zeolite .. Ventilation indoor ..46 Chapter 7: Design, construction and amenities .. Overview and introduction .. Circulation and filtration .. Surface water removal .. Bather load .. Circulation rate and pool turnover ..507. 2. 4 Water distribution zonal and non-zonal .. Separate plant for high risk pools .. Dye Testing .. Entrapment prevention .. Upgrading existing outdoor pools.

8 Filtration systems .. Element filters (cartridge filters) .. Granular filters (typically sand filters) .. Ultrafine filters incorporating diatomaceous earth filters ..52 PAGe 4 NSW HeAltH Public Swimming Pool and Spa Pool Advisory Maintenance of Swimming pools and spa pools ..537. 5 Change rooms, pool hall and amenities .. Floors, walls and change areas .. Light and ventilation .. Showers .. Hand basins .. Toilets (water closets) .. Baby nappy change / parent facilities .. Waste removal (garbage) .. Storage of hazardous and dangerous chemicals .. Water temperature .. Towel and costume hire .. First aid .. Shade .. Glass .. Kiosk ..56 Chapter 8: Cryptosporidium risk management .. Overview .. Epidemiology of cryptosporidiosis .. Control measures and strategies .. Swimmer hygiene practices .. Personal hygiene .. Awareness of infants who are not toilet trained .. Education .. Operational control and management .. Barriers used in pool operations.

9 60(i) Filters ..61(ii) Disinfection .. Water sampling for Cryptosporidium ..61 Chapter 9: Pool designer and operator competencies .. Overview .. Pool designers .. Operator competencies .. Formal operator qualifications .. Pool safety qualifications ..62 Chapter 10: Health risk management planning .. Overview .. Public health risk .. Risk identification .. Risk assessment / characterisation .. Risk management plan .. Implementation .. Dynamics of risk analysis .. Other plans .. Descriptive risk assessment and management of pools and spas ..66 Chapter 11: Legislation .. Overview .. The Public Health Act 2010 .. The Public Health Regulation 2012 .. Schedule 1 of the Regulation .. Enforcement of the Act and Regulation ..68 Appendix A: Breakpoint chlorination (see section ) ..691. Combined chlorine and Continual breakpoint chlorination theory ..703. Shock breakpoint chlorination ..71 Appendix B: Sample log sheet ..73 Appendix C: Components to consider in recycling Swimming pool backwash water.

10 75 Appendix D: Components to consider in water harvesting ..77 Appendix E: Descriptive risk assessment and management of pools and spas ..79 Glossary / Abbreviations ..81 References ..84 Bibliography ..87 Public Swimming Pool and Spa Pool Advisory Document NSW HeAltH PAGe 5 Quick Start for Pool OperatorsHEALTH PROTECTION NSWThe three most important parts of this Advisory Document for pool operators are:n Chemical criterian Chemical testingn Microbiological criteria and samplingA. Chemical criteriaThe mandatory Chemical Criteria is specified in Schedule 1 to the Public Health Regulation 2012. Schedule 1 can be found at: Health only recommends the use of chlorine or bromine based disinfection systems for Public Swimming pools and spa pools. These systems rely on proper concentrations of pH and reserve alkalinity. It is essential that pool operators also read section of Chapter Chemical testingThe minimum mandatory requirements for chemical testing are also specified in Schedule 1 mentioned above.