HOT TUB RUB



For three weeks I’ve wanted to use the outdoor hot tub. As a precaution on Christmas Eve I tested the water before using it and was glad I did. I found the PH level way too low and didn't risk it. On New Year’s Eve I was back only to right away notice the outdoor hot tub water was starting to turn green. The water was not hot, read zero on chlorine/bromine with a PH reading off the scale low. I tested the indoor hot tub and found both the chlorine/bromine and PH levels also off the scale high. I didn’t dare use either. Yesterday I once again tried the outdoor hot tub and guess what? It again read zero on chlorine/bromine with the PH level way too low. The indoor hot tub read high but usable. A Village couple who said they had lost their body hair using the pool and hot tubs asked me to test the indoor pool. I did and it tested OK.
I find it alarming that we pay over a thousand dollars a month for Berry Pool to do our management’s job to keep what I experience these last three weeks from happening. I noticed one of the drain covers totally missing in the outdoor hot tub along one broken in each the indoor hot tub and pool. We were told by our GM the pool facility was in Federal Law compliance to the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. Obviously it is not. With these drain covers broken and missing, we aren’t even in the easy compliance of the Texas state codes. To make things worse there seems to be no one here who you can really address this problem to? These years of consistent pool problems make management appear inept to solve anything and the answer I get from a senior director is that’s why we have insurance.

Texas Administrative Code

TITLE 25
HEALTH SERVICES
PART 1
DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES
CHAPTER 265
GENERAL SANITATION
SUBCHAPTER L
STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC POOLS AND SPAS
RULE §265.190
Suction Outlets and Return Inlets at Post-10/01/99 and Pre-10/01/99 Pools and Spas

(a) Suction outlets for post-10/01/99 and pre-10/01/99 pools and spas. Any suction outlet system for a post-10/01/99 or pre-10/01/99 pool or spa circulation or filtration system, booster system, automatic cleaning system, solar system, water feature, etc., must be designed to protect against a suction entrapment, evisceration or hair entrapment/entanglement hazard and must comply with this section. Drain covers and grates do not need to be flush with the floor. For the purpose of this section, skimmers are not considered to be suction outlets.
(b) Closure of post-10/01/99 and pre-10/01/99 pools and spas if the suction outlet is defective. If the owner or operator of a post-10/01/99 or pre-10/01/99 pool or spa knows or should have known in the exercise of ordinary care that a cover or grate of a suction outlet (including a vacuum outlet) is missing, broken, or loose, the pool or spa must be closed immediately and the pump(s) must be shut off. The pool or spa must remain closed until a proper repair or replacement has been accomplished. The pool or spa shall not be opened unless all covers or grates are securely installed according to subsection (c)(5) of this section and subsection (g) of this section. Suction outlets must have cover(s) complying with subsection (c)(1) of this section or grate(s) complying with subsection (c)(2) of this section, as well as covers for vacuum outlets complying with subsection (g) of this section.


This situation needs to be addressed before someone becomes ill or injured. The Federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act and as this Texas state code above call for closure of the pools and hot tubs until the time that they are in compliance. This seems to be a poor position to put our Village in for someone who might be looking to sue somebody.