Automated Aeration for Alkalinity?

[H2O_Keeper]

Was at a newer hotel over Thanksgiving and noticed some nice small bubbles and a small spray comming from a return going out about 3'. At first I thought it was just coincidence the "low speed" on the returns were working out to do this, but by curiosity I found another jet and no water was flowing there. Is there such a thing as automated aeration and they were trying to adjust Alkalinity? Can a regular pump be ran this way with a frequency drive to do to go this slow? I did not see anything special with this jet or the non-functioning one.

 

[Aquaman95]

Not a chance, particularly at a hotel. You'd be lucky if the maintenance man knows what alkalinity is. I don't mean to be pessimistic, or derogatory but it's the truth. Hotel and apartment pools are generally the worst maintained of all commercial pools and it's because of the high operator turnover and lack of training.

Most likely, they have a suction side cal-hypo tablet feeder that has a leak at the o-ring seal. It's a popular chemical system for some hotels and the air bubbles are very common when the lid isn't tightened down/o-ring wears out, etc.

 

[Guest]

Not a chance, particularly at a hotel. You'd be lucky if the maintenance man knows what alkalinity is. I don't mean to be pessimistic, or derogatory but it's the truth. Hotel and apartment pools are generally the worst maintained of all commercial pools and it's because of the high operator turnover and lack of training.

Amen to that! I do maintenance part time at a Resort condo during the summer season and I checked the pool logs (2 pools, 2 hot tubs, and a kids splash zone) and questioned one of the CPOs why all the FC readings (done with a Taylor K-2005) were 3.6. (the comparator block does not have that kind of precision) He took the comparator and showed me the color block that had the 3 for the chlorine scale and 6 for the bromine scale! He thought that meant 3.6! Needless to say I went to the site manager and ended up doing a training on how to test water! At least they got some calcium in their pools after that and some CYA, which solved the problem of the peristaltic pumps not being able to maintain the FC during the peak of the Florida sun! They also picked up new reagents for the K-2006 they had and started using that after my little class!
At least they did know how to deal with the fecal accidents that occurred on a regular basis because of all the leaking swim diapers! (those things should NOT be allowed, IMHO!)

 

[Aquaman95]

Not a chance, particularly at a hotel. You'd be lucky if the maintenance man knows what alkalinity is. I don't mean to be pessimistic, or derogatory but it's the truth. Hotel and apartment pools are generally the worst maintained of all commercial pools and it's because of the high operator turnover and lack of training.

Amen to that! I do maintenance part time at a Resort condo during the summer season and I checked the pool logs (2 pools, 2 hot tubs, and a kids splash zone) and questioned one of the CPOs why all the FC readings (done with a Taylor K-2005) were 3.6. (the comparator block does not have that kind of precision) He took the comparator and showed me the color block that had the 3 for the chlorine scale and 6 for the bromine scale! He thought that meant 3.6! Needless to say I went to the site manager and ended up doing a training on how to test water! At least they got some calcium in their pools after that and some CYA, which solved the problem of the peristaltic pumps not being able to maintain the FC during the peak of the Florida sun! They also picked up new reagents for the K-2006 they had and started using that after my little class!
At least they did know how to deal with the fecal accidents that occurred on a regular basis because of all the leaking swim diapers! (those things should NOT be allowed, IMHO!)

You'd be surprised just how common that comparator block miss-reading is. I've actually started incorporating that discussion in all my CPO classes. The other one that gets me is when you ask them for their chlorine levels and they describe it to you by color....they have no idea the color corresponds to numbers on the comparator. I've even seen it recorded in logbooks as "pink", "dark pink", etc. Pre-filled out logbooks is another favorite of mine.

 

[Guest]

And THAT is the reason that I will only swim in a pool owned by a TFP or PF member! :-D