SPA CARE

Spa designers, installers and operators are warned against sloppy practices in advice from UK's influential independent swimming pool monitor. The Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group's warnings cover how water gets into and out of spas - and reiterates a serious health warning about spas on display.

There are four areas of concern:

• The condensate from air-handling units (eg. air conditioning, dehumidification) should not drain into spa balance tanks. This practice has been defended in the past on the grounds that the chlorination will kill any Legionella present. in fact the threat - even if small - is more likely to be from Pseudomonas. In any case, the practice is bad in principle: condensate should run to waste.
• The water in a busy commercial spa should turnover every 6 minutes and be emptied once a day. Like any pool, 30 litres of fresh water per bather per day is a good guideline.
• The water should not be dumped into a swimming pool; it should be drained to waste.
• Whenever any spa is filled - even unheated, on display, with no prospect of bathers using it - the water should be disinfected as usual. Otherwise there is a risk of infection for people in the vicinity. This has caused deaths from legionellosis in the past.

A previous PWTAG press release (Spa alert, December 1999) gives more advice on spa operation. There is also information on spas in the SPATA Standards (2001), ISRM Health & Fitness Operators Guide and PHLS Hygiene for Spa Pools.

SWIMMING POOL WATER Treatment & Quality Standards (ISBN 0 9517007 66) is £35 (UK), £45 (Overseas) including post and packing. It is 144 pages and distributed by Greenhouse Publishing (tel: +44 (0)1379 890721 or fax: +44 (0)1379 898244). Bulk supplies (in boxes of 33) are available from PWTAG's secretary.