We all know by now that all facets of the pool’s operation are connected, change one level in the water and a resulting change will occur; like how Alkalinity will affect pH, right?
Well, the showers, changing rooms and deck are intimately related to the quality of the pool water; track debris through the changing rooms onto the deck, and whatever you have on your feet will end up in the water, and potentially remain on the deck for further contamination.
Here are a few considerations when it comes to the relationship between the pool deck and the water.
Do you have live plants around the pool? If you do remember that code says that the deck should slope towards the pool, and most all plant fertilizers contain nitrates…if fertilized water gets into your pool, you have just added a HUGE load to your day; shocking will not remove the nitrates, and the only solution is draining!
Do you allow outside shoes on your pool deck? If so, you might want to rethink that, as those shoes are going to track all kinds of foreign debris onto your deck and potentially into your water.
So, all your swimmers shower before they enter the pool area right 😉? What about the possibility that they have picked up Planters or Athlete Feet, what to do to prevent that? This leads to the question of what do you use to clean/disinfect your deck with and how often you perform that task?
Cleaning down the decks should be done daily when the pool closes, or as necessary during the day.
What you should not clean your deck with is any phosphate based cleaner, phosphates are known to be algae food and your certainly do not want to grow algae in your pool water.
Look for a cleaner that is a disinfectant, such as bleach, or if you prefer a more natural cleaner you can use HOCl – Hypochlorous Acid, which can be used as a universal disinfectant/cleaner for showers, toilets and many other areas in your facility, and is way more eco and people friendly than bleach!
Remember the cleaner your deck, the less water chemistry headaches you will have, and as you know in 2021, we have enough headaches in our aquatic arenas!