OUR CEMENT POND

It seems like every six months or so, we get the privilege to hear another sales pitch from Steve, the Berry Pool guy. I believe most owners know why. At the last Coffee Meeting he showed up to tell owners what made our water again turned green and why we need to use his services. Let’s review some of what Steve said.

The Backwash Blame

This last batch of cloudy green water which tested having no chlorine was in Steve's words “a little incident.” The culpability for creating such pond scum did not fall on his faulty solenoid valve that he had trouble replacing or his company’s ineptness towards this every second monitoring system. No sir, Mr. pointing finger almost pierced the body of our pool employee who was accused of removing all the water’s stabilizer (cyanuric acid) while backwashing the water out of the pool for an accidental forty five minutes. On the surface this seemed plausible. So let’s review his rationale.
In swimming pool water, cyanuric acid does not float on the top but partially surrounds the chlorine on a molecular level, to protect the chlorine and prevent it from being quickly burned off and used up by the sun.

Most owners may not realize that our outdoor pool can be backwash forty five minutes, two hours, or all day and will drain close to the same amount of water. The water loss stays near the same because once you drained below the skimmer line; you start pumping air instead of water, along with ruining the pump’s seals and eventually the pump. This employee could have only lowered the outdoor pool water level by inches with this accidental draining.

Records show if one wishes to reduce their stabilizer, they must replace approximately 25% of their pool water with fresh water. This figures to be about 22,500 gallons when talking about our outdoor pool and that’s just to reduce the stabilizer, not eliminate it.

The proper way to drain our outdoor pool water is to close the skimmer valve located in the big filter room and use only the bottom drain. Forty five minutes worth of doing that would drain about 13,000 gallons (14% of the pool water).
This accidental backwash did not create our pool facility’s water problem and someone owes this employee an apology. It appears the culprit is once again having a long duration of no chlorine being dispensed into the pool water, which turns that pointing finger around.

On top of their exorbitant monthly charge, our Board is now paying Berry Pools a very tidy sum to try to control this newly developed algae growth which had seemed to flourish in our latest high quality lagoon water.

Berry Pools is supposed to provide our Pool facility with water that’s balanced. That means the pool water’s chlorine; pH, alkalinity, and acidity are kept in line to make the water quality good for both people and equipment. It seems far too often though, our Park has been getting inconsistent water quality and periodic slick talking lip service.


Chemical Cost Higher?

At the Board meeting both Ms. Burke and Steve emphasize an increase in chemical usage. Common sense would tell most owners that more sun, more heat, more people, would mean more chemicals. Why mention it at all unless preparing the owners for chemical costs that are going through the roof. Is our Park still paying less for chemicals since hiring Berry Pools as Ms. Burke had claimed? Last year’s cost was a little difficult to compare with because of hurricane Dolly.

When Ms. Burke did say we are using more chemicals, she also said the Park is now being charged less per item/gallon. That may actually translate into our Park is not paying Berry Pools the full “Market Price” for a change. Has anyone read a word like “wholesale” in Berry Pool’s contract?

Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act

Steve threw this fear into everyone’s hearts about how the Federal Government is fining any organization up to $1.8 million who are not in compliance with the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. He also said there is this attorney frenzy happening as a result.
The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act started on December 2008, and stated that each public pool and spa in the United States must be equipped with anti-entrapment devices or systems that comply with the ASME/ANSI 112.19.8 performance standard. That’s it, entrapment devices.
Please note though that our indoor pool may still not be in compliance since it appears each of the bottom drains seem to operate individually with its own pump.

Certified Pool Operator?

Steve was adamant about staff members who manually maintain our pool facility have to be licensed and certified technicians to be in compliance. Then Steve tells the audience he’s certified and proud to say his whole staff was.
The next thing we will to be hearing is the Board wanting to pay Berry Pools for some certification training.

Even though it is a good idea to have a certified pool operator in charge of you facility, it doesn’t guarantee that person knows what they are doing. (Case in point, see ex-gm)
It seems the Texas State Codes do not mandate a CPO or the equivalent towards organizations like our Village. Please read below.

The Texas Administrating Code

Subchapter L

Standards for Public Pools and Spas

265.203

(a) Required operator certification for certain types of post-10/01/99 and pre-10/01/99 pools and spas. Post-10/01/99 and pre-10/01/99 Class A or B pools and Class D pools operated in conjunction with a Class A or B pool shall be maintained under the supervision and direction of a properly trained and certified operator who is responsible for the sanitation, safety, and proper maintenance of the pool or spa, and for maintaining all physical and mechanical equipment and records. Training and certification can be obtained by completion of one of the following courses or their equivalent:

(1) the NRPA, "Aquatic Facility Operator" (A.F.O.);

(2) the NSPF, "Certified Pool-Spa Operator" (C.P.O.);

(3) YMCA, "Pool Operator on Location" (P.O.O.L.);

(4) the NSPI, "Professional Pool & Spa Operator" (P.P.S.O.); or

(5) the ASPSA, "Licensed Aquatic Facility Technician" (L.A.F.T.).

(Please notice that a Class C pool does not have this requirement.)

Definitions of pool classes

265.182

(A) Class A pool--Any pool used, with or without a fee, for accredited competitive aquatic events such as Federation Internationale De Natation Amateur (FINA), United States Swimming, United States Diving, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSHSA), events. A Class A pool may also be used for recreation.

B) Class B pool--Any pool used for public recreation and open to the general public with or without a fee.

(C) Class C pool--Any pool operated for and in conjunction with:

(i) lodging such as hotels, motels, apartments, condominiums, or mobile home parks;

(ii) property owner associations, private organizations, or clubs; or

(iii) a school, college or university while being operated for academic or continuing education classes. The use of such a pool would be open to occupants, members or students, etc., and their guests but not open to the general public.

.

(D) Class D pool--A wading pool with a maximum water depth of 24 inches at any point.

My Opinion

For the past two years Berry Pools has cost far more and has done considerably less than a qualified pool attendant. It has not provided the expected assurance that the water chemistry in this pool facility is always satisfactory. The problems of the past have not been improved upon from this costly service. Steve was correct in saying that water chemistry is a science, but it sure doesn’t take a missile scientist to realize we have a dud here.