Wayne: When A Pool Is Not A Pool

On this week's episode, Wayne goes over all the different types of pools and their classifications. 

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Hello everybody and happy Thursday. This is Wayne Iversuch at talking for testing Thursdays with Wayne. Hope everybody's had a good week. Um I did just a little brief review of what's been happening in an actual thing back. I thought it was hit a few. I don't know what it was. But yeah, that's okay, yes, we did. Um let's go to the hospital today. Barely screamed, barely blocked. All that nice neat stuff. Don't get old. It doesn't help. It really didn't do anything. That doesn't take some x-rays. And telling me that, oh, you've got a lot of arthritis in your spine. Thank you very much. I didn't know that. But you know, oxycodone to help with the pain is a good thing when it works and you do it right. So I'm not completely pain-free right now, but let's just say it's a little achy by just sitting down here and recording um this particular podcast. So bear with me if I occasionally go or scream, you know, that kind of thing. So, what are we gonna talk about today? Well, um, I got thinking the other day, you know, it I I talk about testing pool water and and testing spa water and you know and variations on the theme, but I never really get down into the the area where a pool really isn't a pool, it's something else. And for those of you who are CPOs are gonna be pretty pretty familiar with this, gonna talk about the different kinds of pools that there are out there. And if there are any challenges as far as uh testing all the water chemistry parameters or water balance or whatever it is that you're testing for, is there anything unique or anything different that that you need to be doing or be at least be aware of that would affect the results of your test? Skew them, you know, either high or low or or whatever to the point where you kind of go, uh that doesn't make any sense. So let's let's go over them. It's called uh classes of pools. Now, um and your health local health department may call call it something else, but for this particular podcast, I'm going to be following uh what's in the CPO manual as far as the kinds of pools, what classes they are. So let's start right off from the class A pools. What's a class A pool? Okay, now by definition, it's any pool, uh, any body of water that is used for um uh competitive aquatic events like uh natatoriums, the college campuses, the Olympics, things of that and that nature. Um that it's it's only to be used for these kind of events. Um I would include diving uh in this category two diving pools. Um places, uh some health departments in the country call it uh competition pools, that kind of thing. So it's not your backyard, you know, um in-ground or above ground in-tech pool or whatever. Um it's it's a true competitive pool. It's not your uh local, you know, um country club pool. It's it's a competition pool. Um so that's a class A pool. I'm gonna go over these classes first. Class B pool. Okay, we've got A, A is competition. Class B pools, um, these are the ones that are used for public recreational use. These are the ones that you know you pay a fee with every season, and you get to sit by the pool and lounge and and you have picnic lunches and bring the kids and things like that. Um these are what are commonly called public pools, okay? Um that you know that open up to anybody pretty much. Then we have our class C pools. These kind of pools are a little bit different in that you're talking about pools that are like in apartment complexes, um uh condo uh complexes, um, you know, um homeowners associations run them, um, probably badly, but run them. Um and um also the kind of pools that you see at hotels and motels. Um, these are commonly called semi-public pools. And by semi-public, what I mean is is that there's some organization to it that that requires some kind of a fee involved, whether it's you know you're staying overnight in a hotel or whether you pay, you know, uh six dollars a day or ten dollars a day, whatever you use the pool, that kind of thing. Then we have Class D pools, uh DS David. These are things like oh um um float tanks, splash pads, um interactive water features. You see, these kind of like gym-like uh climbing apparatus on on top of uh you know six inches of water. Um aquatic playgrounds, that's another one. Okay. Um we call the we give them a different classification, not because they're at you know generally there's they're still technically a pool, but it's what what it's used for and who uses it. That's that's what the difference is. Then we have class E as an Edward kind of pool. So this is the one that I'm real familiar with. Physical therapy pools. Okay um I had my right hip replaced back in August of 2012, and uh part of my post-surgical therapy regimen was um a therapy pool getting in there because you know it, you're you're you're floating and take takes the weight off and things like that. You can move around a little bit more more freely freely in in underwater. And of course, all the benefits associated with submersion. Yeah, I'm not even gonna get to that. But anyhow, um the the the PT people that I went to had a very small therapy pool. And when I mean by very small, I'm talking about if this thing was 1500 gallons, it was a lot. Um and it could fit you, your your therapist, maybe a couple other people. That that was it. It had an underwater um uh treadmill, which I thought was cool as crap, and and a uh underwater uh bike, uh stationary bike, which was great, and it really improved the therapy course that I went through way back then. Um these are generally a little bit warmer water than what you would find in all of the other classes that I've already talked about. Uh, generally speaking, um Fina and most of the other organizations, when they're asked, you know, what's what's the ideal temperature, it's really personal preference. But generally speaking, 78 to 82 degrees is is is the easy range um to to remember. Um jumping back um to class A pools, competitive pools. I used to be a uh USSA swim official back in the day, probably oh gosh, I'd say my daughter's 36. She was doing this when she was 18, so you know, almost 20 years ago. Did it for a couple of years, and one of the requirements for the for these level of of competitions of swim meets, and if any of you are officials, you know where I'm going on this, you can't have the water temperature colder than 78 or hotter than 82. Um, if it's above that, you cannot hold the competition. And in fact, I have been to a couple swim meets where we've had to shut down uh the competition because the water could not be the water temperature could not be regulated. And what happened with with that was um somebody screwed around with the heater or something like that. I really don't know the specifics, but I know somebody played with the heater. Um because um coaches and and swimmers will tell you that at temperatures colder than 78 degrees Fahrenheit or say hotter than 82 impede the swimmer's ability to swim to the best of their abilities. Um and in fact, um uh I know of some cases in which uh the Olympic pools uh had issues with water temperature. I mean, we all remember the one Olympic, um, I forgot where it was located, I'll be I'll be honest with you, but remember the diving pool was green. Um that that's a whole different kind of issue. Um and the temperature was too warm, so they had to shut down and use another another diving pool. But but yeah, um temperature-wise, uh physical therapy pools are usually uh closer to um 86 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit or 30 degrees centigrade. Um uh and then that's a classy pool. And then the final classes out there is waiting pools, kiddie pools. These are the the the the um toilets that I you know where I'm going in that one. Um these are the ones that are maybe a foot and a half deep, maybe a foot deep, you know, all the same level, you know, all the way around, kids and swim diapers and all that stuff. So yeah, so we have essentially, you know, um ABC DEF. We've got six different classifications. Now, does not notice I didn't say the word spa on there because that's that's another animal, and we'll we'll talk about that one day. But um, do any of these pools have a need to be aware of testing issues? Um, well, let's take a look at it. When you're talking about class A pools, competitive pools, uh, probably not, uh, because these are for the most part very well maintained because they have to be uh in order for a meet to to to take place. Uh, usually these are the pretty pristine ones uh we're all kind of familiar with or have read about or heard about in in our industry. Um so there's no real need for changing your technique or your um or whatever testing system you're using. Um now I will tell you that on this level of pool, class A pools, 90% of the time you're going to have some kind of online testing system that will um read out you know the obvious pH sanitizer levels, things like that. Probably there's an ORP. Uh, there might even be some, you know, um pH, uh an acid feed system on there, it could be a lot of different things added onto there, but but for the most part, these are all automated testing um um systems that that believe it or not, to be to be verified and calibrated, you're still going to need to use some kind of a of a test, um, a separate test, a liquid, usually a liquid, uh wet we call it wet chemistry test, where you're adding a liquid reagents to a sample and you're you're getting a color that or something, uh, or it's a titration. But the these are the uh the top level um uh variations on the theme as far as testing are is concerned. The class B pool, um this is you know the the public pool. Um, and I'm gonna kind of lump class B and Class C together, class B, public pool, class C, semi-public pool, um shouldn't really have any issues as far as testing is concerned, uh unless the person doing the test has no clue uh what they're doing, or does the test wrong, or uses old test kits or or you know, bad test strips. Well, hopefully not test strips, um as far as a recordable reading. But these type of pools are are still governed by a local health department, and um the local health department dictates um what can be used or not be used. I don't I'm I'm still pretty positive that there's not a single county or state um that allows the use of a test strip for a recordable test. However, using a test strip in between official reportable test readings is perfectly fine because that way you can tell whether or not your your system has worked. So it's it's a good thing, okay? Uh but as far as official um readings are concerned, um, no, you can't use test strips. Quick and simple test, yeah, I'm in the right right area, I'm I'm headed in the good direct headed in the good direction with the test strip. Bingo, you got you got it made. Uh, but as far as you know, what would be considered normal testing, standard testing, um, a wet chemistry test is fine. Most of these public and semi-public pools cannot afford the automation that a competitive pool would have. Uh you know, automatic feed systems, um uh yeah, uh automatic testing, or you know, um all that. Some of them do, not many, because it's a cost, uh, not only in purchasing the the units themselves, but also in in um teaching people how to actually use the uh use the unit and know how to repair it if it needs fixing and and know how knows how to read um whatever it is they're trying to test. Um the next kind of um class is um class D. These are the special purpose, these are the um splash pads, flow tanks, things of that nature. Um uh it's it's it is gonna depend. Now, um if it's a splash pad, uh, and I'm gonna lump the splash pad in with things like class F pools, the waiting pools, uh, you still have to test them. They're still normally governed by by local health department if they're public or semi-public. So you still have to to do your normal standard uh operations for them, testing operations. Test trip is fine in between recordable tests, but as far as you know, should I use this kit, should I use that kit, should I use this system, that system, it's it's pretty much, you know, use whatever you can that's going to give you a reliable, consistent uh test reading. Where it comes kind of wonky is flow tanks. And I know that my my good friend and colleague Roy Voer uh is on the board of the flow tank um uh group and has done a lot of research into flow tanks, and um when they first started to come out in and into the public, oh gosh, pre-COVID. So you're talking maybe 10 plus years ago. Uh I remember that the the two guys that kind of started this all approached several of the test kit companies asking them to help develop a test kit specifically for float tanks. Um, and and and the reason was is that part of uh making it a float tank is that you float, and in in normal fill water, you don't float. Okay, you sink uh to some degree. Um so what they do is add um something called magnesium sulfate, magnesium salts to the water. Magnesi, excuse me, magnesium chloride, not sulfate, magnesium chloride to the water at such an enormously high level that it's kind of like you know the the the Dead Sea um in the Middle East. It's got so much salt in there that you float. You you can't drown. You just float on the surface. Even somebody my size is float on the surface. Now, the problem with that is chemically is that the only test that will give you an accurate answer in when testing float tank water is pH. PH is is is is accurate. Anything else, alkalinity, hardness, sanitizer, you know, whatever, whatever you're testing for, is not going to be able to be read because of the magnesium chloride levels being in the tens and thousands of parts per million. It just simply it does weird and wonky things and doesn't even come close to a right answer. We did when I was a tailor, they did a lot of research, our Q our quality control department, a lot of tests on this, and and um that showed where nope, nope, pH is the only thing. Uh, even probes, uh, you know, electronics, you you can't use it. So a lot of times when these things first came out and first popped up, I get calls from health departments uh or even owner operators of the flu tank locations is like, how am I going to be able to test this water to see if it's safe? It's good, see if it's got sanitizer in it. What do I do? Basically, well, try you know, you think through this and you go, okay, what well, what can we do? What can't we do, and what can we do? So, okay, we can't use the water that's in the flow tank. What can we do? So I said, Well, why don't you do this? Why don't you test the water that's incoming from whatever source it is? And if that water is of a is is fine, is good, is within whatever parameters you've set up, then you know that at least that portion is is good. Okay, pH is fine, alkalinity, hardness, sanitizer, that kind of thing. And all you're doing is adding you know a ton and a half of magnesium chloride uh in there to create the float effect. And then that way at least you know what's going in is okay. Um and I would say for the for the most part, health officials and flow tank operators said, yeah, that makes sense. That's because that's the only thing you can do chemically. Um and uh turns out that that you know it it is the only way really to test for it. Now, that doesn't mean that something's gonna come down the pike uh and compensate for that high level of magnesium uh chloride um in the water. Who knows? Um, who knows what's gonna happen tomorrow. But right now, it's that's really the only way to do it. Um, because you know health departments want to make sure the water is safe for people to get in. Um and and God bless them, you know, go for it. That that's fine. But the the practical the the actual reality of the situation, the practical application is that you can't get there from here easily. You can kind of back into it, but uh you can't do direct reading. Um, the other thick question I always used to get was how often should you drain the water in in a float tank? Um and my question was, well, well, my response was uh, well, you know, it's like a hot tub. Um uh it's it's basically bath water. And what do you do after you finish taking a bath? Ta-da, ta-da! You know, you drain the water. So I said, I wouldn't want my flow tank location to have that water drained in between every user. Okay. Then reality comes into play, and the flow tank people go, we can't do that. That that that that you know it costs money, you know, we can't re-refresh it with all the magnesium chloride in there. Um, what one flow tank operator told me is that they change out the water in in the flow tanks every five days. That's better than every month um or every two months, uh, but still, you know, I would not get in a flow tank unless the water was fresh. But that's me. Yeah. Um, I like to swim in in water and not other people's bath water. Um now that add to that the temperature, okay. And and like you probably heard me say over the years, remember, any anyone. Water temperature, any sample temperature greater than 90 degrees Fahrenheit, um is basically you're cooking the reagents. And in fact, this came up the other day when I got an email from a friend of mine who is a uh health official in Texas, and she asked me, you know, I remember you telling me something about temperature and testing, and it's like, yep, mm-hmm, let me send you this. And yeah, anything over 90 degrees, um, it it will cook the reagent, and you're gonna get some really weird, strange color development. Um, any temperatures under 50 degrees, um not necessarily weird colors, but the the the colder temperature slows down chemical reactions, and you're not gonna get as fast of an answer as you would think. That's why I tell people if you're dealing with like plunge tanks um and um um uh hotter water environments, you know, collect your sample, let it sit in an opaque container with a lid on it for a couple minutes, and let it cool down. It will cool down quickly in a smaller uh volume than it would be in the actual you know the unit itself. And then go ahead and test. Um then you'll get a good reliable answer, but you can't take that that reading right away. And uh and I know I mentioned uh plunge tanks and things like that. And um I did a podcast on it, I think a couple weeks ago, about uh plunge tanks, um, cold plunge tanks, because you know they really didn't exist um uh in in the real world. Um uh a year ago or maybe two years ago, they started becoming popular, uh, and not just for um athletes, uh sporting teams, things of that nature, but for you know, regular Joe uh kind of people who uh wanted to have one at home, or people who are really um gym gym fanatics and and want to have that um extra little piece of equipment to help them get going. So um I think I've hit everything. Um the one thing I want to leave you with today for for this podcast is uh when you're dealing with with kiddie pools and waiting pools and things of that nature, you've got to be really, really careful, obviously, um uh because of all the potential for uh fecal contamination and peeing in the pool and and all this stuff. Because those little kids, I always tell people when when I was giving the classes that uh the the the the biggest lie in our industry that comprised two words, and that was swim diapers. Yeah, just no, they don't really work well. But anyhow, um that's pretty much it for today. Um, I hope I've given you some stuff to think about. Um, if you do have a question and would like one of us in the talking pools uh faculty, oh cool, I call ourselves faculty. I answer it. It doesn't have to be chemistry related, it could be testing related, it could be anything, operations, management, whatever. Um, and we feature that uh email and answer on one of our podcasts, you will win a prize. And what is what is in our prize bag today, Mr. Wayne? Well, we've got our infamous what the flock um hat that I am currently putting in my head. Um and uh we have a wonderful uh picture of our um our corporate symbol, Talking Fools Podcast, a water drop on top of a microphone with the phrase what the flock um sitting quite nicely on there, and it's a medium to dark gray cap and very, very comfortable. Um but but yeah, we will do that, and uh we will contact you, of course, let you know we're gonna do that, get your shipping address and things like that. But if you if you're gonna do that, uh and you you you think you got a good question for it, send it to talkingpools at gmail.com. That's talkingpools at gmail.com. And um uh when we we when we get it, um uh Rudy will look at it and see who we should go to for um an answer and take it from there. So uh hope everybody has a great week and uh y'all safe and healthy and stuff like that. Uh stend good juju and thoughts my way on my lower back because right now I'm sitting and I don't plan to get up anytime soon unless I'm gonna scream like a little girl. No offense. Uh so take care, guys and gals. Have a have a great week, and I'll be talking at you next Thursday. Bye bye.