Sorry if anyone finds the title offensive, but I think it's a topic that should be discussed.
This is probably going to be a long rant for me so I'll apologize in advance and try to give some background.
I live in a master-planned community that has tons of neighborhood amenities. One of the best is our large clubhouse area which has a large water park with 5 separate swimming areas. The first is a large normal swimming pool. Then there is a smaller pool used as a collection for 3 full-sized water slides. There's a large knee-deep slash/spray park with a large play structure and tons of spraying/dumping/splashing water. There's a smaller toddler sized splash/spray pool, and finally a toddler wading pool. It's a really neat place. You can see some pictures of it here.
The problem is that over the past few years as the community has grown rapidly, the water park gets busier and busier with more and more kids. There has been an epidemic of 'incidents' in the pools in which someone (generally small kids) poops/vomits/pees in the pool and they shut it down and shock for 8 hours. It's gotten so bad that it seems like one or all of the pools are constantly closed. It's very frustrating as a resident. It's also one of the main reasons we put in our own pool in our yard.
All young children under 3 are required to wear swim diapers but it doesn't seem to help. This summer the clubhouse has implemented a new policy of a 10 minute 'rest period' every hour. Once per hour the life guards will blow the whistle and everybody has to get out of every body of water for 10 minutes. I think they're expecting this time to be used for kids to go to the bathroom or diapers to be changed but I think it's a RIDICULOUS policy. There's only 3 bathrooms in the clubhouse I believe, so they will just be swamped. Not to mention how do you explain to your 2 year old that they have to get out and stop playing for 10 minutes and just stand there and stare at all the fun stuff right in front of them. I think it's going to be a disaster... kids will be screaming, parents will be frustrated, and I can't imagine it'll solve the problem.
My question is, how do other public pools handle this? I've been to water parks, public pools, wave pools, etc that don't have such mandatory breaks, and I'm sure they have more kids in the water than our park. How are they handling accidents? Do big places like that have some sort of SUPER DUPER sanitization systems that negate the danger of bacteria and stuff in the water or is normal pool chemistry with 2.0-4.0 FC (their standards) in the water totally enough to protect other swimmers from getting sick (assuming the offending substance gets removed quickly)? I can't imagine a large water park or other business surviving if they shut down for 8 hours to shock whenever they found a 'snicker bar' floating in the water. Or are those places just dangerous filthy cesspools of bacteria filled water?
Please help... I've been venting to the clubhouse about what I consider to be a ridiculous solution to the problem, but I can't think of a better one. Is it better just to scoop out the poop and keep on swimming? Is 8 hours of shock ridiculous? What sort of extra equipment could eliminate the problem?
Thanks!!!
This is probably going to be a long rant for me so I'll apologize in advance and try to give some background.
I live in a master-planned community that has tons of neighborhood amenities. One of the best is our large clubhouse area which has a large water park with 5 separate swimming areas. The first is a large normal swimming pool. Then there is a smaller pool used as a collection for 3 full-sized water slides. There's a large knee-deep slash/spray park with a large play structure and tons of spraying/dumping/splashing water. There's a smaller toddler sized splash/spray pool, and finally a toddler wading pool. It's a really neat place. You can see some pictures of it here.
The problem is that over the past few years as the community has grown rapidly, the water park gets busier and busier with more and more kids. There has been an epidemic of 'incidents' in the pools in which someone (generally small kids) poops/vomits/pees in the pool and they shut it down and shock for 8 hours. It's gotten so bad that it seems like one or all of the pools are constantly closed. It's very frustrating as a resident. It's also one of the main reasons we put in our own pool in our yard.
All young children under 3 are required to wear swim diapers but it doesn't seem to help. This summer the clubhouse has implemented a new policy of a 10 minute 'rest period' every hour. Once per hour the life guards will blow the whistle and everybody has to get out of every body of water for 10 minutes. I think they're expecting this time to be used for kids to go to the bathroom or diapers to be changed but I think it's a RIDICULOUS policy. There's only 3 bathrooms in the clubhouse I believe, so they will just be swamped. Not to mention how do you explain to your 2 year old that they have to get out and stop playing for 10 minutes and just stand there and stare at all the fun stuff right in front of them. I think it's going to be a disaster... kids will be screaming, parents will be frustrated, and I can't imagine it'll solve the problem.
My question is, how do other public pools handle this? I've been to water parks, public pools, wave pools, etc that don't have such mandatory breaks, and I'm sure they have more kids in the water than our park. How are they handling accidents? Do big places like that have some sort of SUPER DUPER sanitization systems that negate the danger of bacteria and stuff in the water or is normal pool chemistry with 2.0-4.0 FC (their standards) in the water totally enough to protect other swimmers from getting sick (assuming the offending substance gets removed quickly)? I can't imagine a large water park or other business surviving if they shut down for 8 hours to shock whenever they found a 'snicker bar' floating in the water. Or are those places just dangerous filthy cesspools of bacteria filled water?
Please help... I've been venting to the clubhouse about what I consider to be a ridiculous solution to the problem, but I can't think of a better one. Is it better just to scoop out the poop and keep on swimming? Is 8 hours of shock ridiculous? What sort of extra equipment could eliminate the problem?
Thanks!!!