Planning annual aquatic facility maintenance: Aquatic facilities require systematic and comprehensive annual maintenance if they are to remain attractive to patrons and functional for their service lives.

Planning annual aquatic facility maintenance: Aquatic facilities require systematic and comprehensive annual maintenance if they are to remain attractive to patrons and functional for their service lives. While this fact is apparent to many operators, the reality is that scheduling and planning this procedure is more easily said than done. Each day that an aquatic facility is shut down for maintenance results in lost revenue and unhappy patrons. Facility managers should not be dissuaded from performing annual maintenance due to this fact. Failure to perform regular repairs can lead to a decline in water clarity due to a buildup of dissolved solids, poor lighting due to burned out bulbs, and loose deck tiles due to eroding grout. (Aquatics)

Selecting a time of the year for the performance of this maintenance can be difficult, as can selecting and prioritizing those projects that are to be performed. Aquatic facility managers should begin by reviewing their annual schedules to determine the time of the year with the lowest use patterns. This will vary depending on the type of facility. University aquatic facilities may wish to perform their maintenance tasks during summer months, between spring and summer or summer and fall sessions. The reduced student load and general absence of swimming and diving teams make this time more acceptable for all involved.

Conversely, YMCAs and recreation centers become much busier during the summer months due to camps, swim lessons, and recreational swims by vacationing school children. These facilities may wish to select December as their maintenance time due to a general decline in usage associated with recreational facilities during the holiday season.

Whatever time period is selected, if successful, should be adhered to each year. This permits staff, patrons, teams, coaches and administrators to plan accordingly for a regular period of aquatic facility shut down.

Preparing for Annual Maintenance

No one likes unpleasant surprises, particularly those that may affect them financially or inconvenience them for a long period. To eliminate this occurrence during your aquatic facility maintenance period, be sure to notify everyone well in advance of the planned facility shut down. Regular rental groups, teams, instructors, lifeguards, and other staff members should be informed of the planned shut down period via letter and if possible, in person,. Be sure to clearly indicate to aquatic staff if the maintenance shut down period will result in loss of wages. Some facilities give staff the option of assisting with cleaning tasks and minor maintenance to eliminate loss of wages. Providing this alternative or temporary alternate employment elsewhere in the facility assists in retaining staff that would otherwise be forced to seek other jobs due to lost wages.

Information regarding the maintenance closure should be provided to front desk and guest service representative to pass on to callers or patrons inquiring about the pool. Including this information on the facility website and in the facility information phone line also assists in informing patrons. If a facility newsletter is distributed to patrons, a side bar explaining the maintenance protocol and its purpose, is helpful to patrons understanding why their pool is unavailable to them. A final step in informing patrons is placing facility-closing signs on the pool deck and in all locker rooms. These signs should be placed several weeks before the actual closing to allow for as much advance notice as possible. Undoubtedly, someone will claim they were not informed, but if these methods are adhered to, facility administrators can say it's not from lack of trying.

What Tasks to Perform

Draining the pool and basin cleaning and repair should be near the top of the maintenance to-do list. Draining the pool eliminates the buildup of total dissolved solids in the water and allows for easier regulation of water chemistry upon refilling. Failure to do this may lead to difficulty in controlling pH, unpleasant odor and taste to the water, and decreased effectiveness to disinfecting agents such as chlorine or bromine. All these factors will make your pool a less pleasant place for patrons to swim, and may cost money trying to correct the problem later.

Draining the pool also allows for direct access to the basin. Tile should be regrouted and any loose or broken tiles should be replaced. Replacing lost or damaged tile prevents injury to patrons and minimizes potential for leaks. If the basin is plaster it should be repainted. Tile basins should be acid washed to remove the buildup of scum. Additionally seals can be replaced and repairs made to underwater lights and speakers.

Replacing lights can often be difficult in aquatic facilities due to their height and resultant difficulty in accessing them. During the maintenance period, scissors lifts or other lift devices can be brought in to replace burned out bulbs. Repairs and replacement to damaged or lost ceiling tiles may also be accomplished during this period with the use of this same lift device. Pools with fans or air circulation vents often accumulate large amounts of dust on ceiling level fixtures. Cleaning them during the annual maintenance period creates a more pleasing sanitary atmosphere and allows for better air circulation. This task can be coupled with light replacement and ceiling repair for economy and simplification of effort.

Deck fixtures such as ladders, starting blocks and diving boards should be inspected several months prior to the maintenance period. The hostile environment of humidity, chemicals, and constant use can cause these fixtures to become weakened, corroded and damaged. If the pre-maintenance inspection reveals this, appropriate replacement parts can be ordered so as to be on hand for installation during maintenance. If fixtures are found to be in good repair they should be cleaned. Diving board and starting block surfaces should be disinfected using a 5% chlorine bleach solution. Stainless steel surfaces should be scoured with steel wool to remove rust and scale build up.

Inventory of pool supplies and equipment is also best accomplished during this shut down period. Number and condition of pullbuoys, lifejackets, kick boards, rescue equipment, etc. can be determined. Tallies can be compared with previous yearly totals to determine rate loss due to use. Worn out and unneeded equipment can be removed or destroyed to save space. New equipment can be ordered to replace worn out items. Storerooms can also be cleaned and reorganized during this period. These simple tasks make operation of the facility easier and more comfortable for staff and patrons alike by creating a sense of reorganization and freshness.

Harsh environments due to humidity and corrosive chemicals can also cause damage to doorframes, doors and walls. These areas should be inspected and identified for repair and replacement as needed. Replacement doors, hinges, locks and bolts may be needed in some cases. Prior identification of the need for replacement of these items will be necessary in order to anticipate their need and allow for delivery.

Pool plumbing and pipes are often overlooked as part of the maintenance project. Pipes, pumps and filter tanks must be inspected to identify leaks. Damaged fixtures can much more easily be replaced during this period due to the pool being already drained and filters inactivated. Replacement of filter media periodically required for sand and gravel filters may also be accomplished during the maintenance period.

How to Accomplish Annual Maintenance

Large institutions such as colleges, universities, military installations and state agencies may have many of the painters, plumbers, ironworkers and carpenters on staff required to complete aquatic facility maintenance. If so, a planning meeting should be held between the aquatic director, maintenance supervisor and appropriate recreation and/or athletic directors. This meeting should be held months prior to the projected maintenance period. The meeting should identify projects in order of priority, require a timeline for the tasks to be completed, and the order in which they are best accomplished. Funding for these projects should also be discussed. To eliminate any misunderstandings regarding project dates and scope of work, minutes of planning meetings should be kept and distributed to all parties.

Smaller entities without a large support staff may have to contract with individual agencies for accomplishment of each part of the project. This complicates matters and requires greater planning on the part of the aquatic facility manager.

Length of facility shut down is always a concern to facility managers. A day of lost operations is a day of lost revenue. To minimize shut down time, equipment may be pre-staged in the facility prior to the actual maintenance period. This allows an immediate start to projects such as filter repair and regrouting of decks as soon as the facility is closed. Drainage of pools should begin as soon as the last swimmer exits the pool prior to maintenance beginning. Draining the basin is a time consuming event, requiring days for larger pools. Many projects such as basin repair and cleaning cannot begin until pools are completely drained. The sooner draining begins, the sooner projects are started, reducing closure time.

Project foremen should be familiar with the facility, including parking arrangements and unloading docks. Access to the work site should be clearly understood and keys to the facility issued prior to project start date if so stated in the contract. All aquatic facility staff should be aware of who to contact regarding the maintenance and repair project.

For the safety of workers and patrons, be sure to post "DANGER POOL DRAINED" signs on pool doors. Maintain facility security as tightly as if the facility were open. A patron inadvertently diving or falling into an empty pool could be seriously injured or killed.

Local water departments should be informed of pool draining as well. The discharge of up to a million gallons of water in the case of larger pools could seriously overload sewer systems, causing back ups and flooding. Pool water must be discharged into storm sewers, never sanitary sewers, as the chlorine destroys the bacteria necessary for sewage treatment found in sewage plants.

Conclusion

Many aquatic facility managers feel that they cannot bear the closure of their facility for the time required to complete maintenance properly. However, failure to do so results in decay of the pool infrastructure and erosion of it's pleasing features. The end result will be lower satisfaction from patrons and eventual increase in maintenance problems. Without repairing and refitting small problems, they become larger. Eventually a maintenance shut down may be forced due to equipment or infrastructure failure. Unfortunately, in this event, the timing of the closure is at the mercy of luck, not at your selection. Lost revenue and public relations due to this can be disastrous. Regular, systematic, planned aquatic facility maintenance can prevent this and other problems.