Lifeguard Lung

It’s indoor pool season! As pool operators, we have a lot to worry about. Some stuff is the same for outdoor pools such as making sure the equipment is functioning properly, making sure all safety equipment is in good operating shape, cleaning the pool, and proper water chemistry. One additional thing we have to worry about is the air quality. Say what? Why would we have to worry about the air quality?

Lifeguard Lung

You see, with an indoor pool, all the chemicals and by-products get released into the air affecting swimmers, spectators, and staff. If the air quality is not controlled, it can cause serious issues. One of those issues is Granulomatous Lung Disease, commonly known as “Lifeguard Lung”. After some lifeguards were experiencing issues such as coughing and chest tightness the facility changed the ventilation system. The lifeguards didn’t get better. Why is that? Because the issue actually wasn’t the ventilation system, but the water itself! How is this possible?

Repeat exposure to over-chlorinated pools increases the likelihood of this disease, especially if the pool has any aerated water like from a spray or misting system. How do we end up with these by-products? Disinfection by-products can form when contaminants enter the water. These contaminants can include urine, sweat, oils lotions and dirt. These pollutants react to the chlorine in the water. They combine with the chlorine and become combined chlorine, AKA chloramines. Chloramines are not able to sanitize the water. They can be irritating to bathers. They can also affect folks NOT in the water. While a proper ventilation system is super important for any indoor pool, proper water chemistry is what is truly the key.

How do we maintain proper water chemistry? It starts by testing, testing, testing! Pool Shark H2O appreciates the value of quick and accurate water testing and dosing results. That is why they have paired with the LaMotte Spin Lab to bring you an easy, accurate way to test your water. All you do is inject a small syringe of water into the test spin disc. Insert the spin disc and viola! In just 60 seconds the results are sent to any device you have Pool Shark H2O installed on. Boss won’t go for the spin lab? No problem! You can still manually enter your results into the app.

The Pool Shark H2O App is completely customizable for your bodies of water. Using the Langelier Saturation Index (The most accurate way to balance water), the App will give you accurate results. The Pool Shark H2O App also does the second part, which is equally as important as the water’s current condition. It gives you proper dosing instructions. Water can either be neutral, scale-forming or corrosive. Scale-formation can muck up your waterline and salt cell if you have one. It can also build up on your equipment. Corrosive water can etch the pool’s surface and corrode the equipment, possibly ruining it. This is especially true of heaters. Having to remove calcium build-up or replace equipment can get expensive, not to mention having to close the pool while the work is being done.

The Pool Shark H2O App provides dosage recommendations to bring your water as close to neutral as possible. No more doing math on the chemicals needed in your head or worse, guessing. Wasting chemicals also wastes money. As mentioned above, OVER chlorinating the water is also the cause of contaminated air so we need to watch out for this as well by testing often.

If someone were to, heaven forbid, become ill from being in the water or breathing the air around the water, we could get into a lot of trouble if our water wasn’t properly balanced. That is why every commercial body of water is required by law to maintain accurate water test logs. They used to be a pain in the rear. Old-fashioned paper logs could get wet, misplaced or go unused. Plus they have to be stored for YEARS, taking up precious storage space. The Pool Shark H2O has a solution for this issue as well. The App keeps a digital log of all water tests. This is the modern way to keep water test records. You can also create custom checklists to help you stay organized. The App even reminds you when it is time to change your VGB drains. It is a commercial swimming pool operator’s digital personal assistant.

So, now we have learned that people can develop diseases such as lifeguard lung from poor water chemistry. We have also learned that frequent testing is key. We have learned that the most efficient way to test and dose is with the Pool Shark H2O app. The Pool Shark H2O App helps people from getting sick. Pool Shark H2O to the rescue! See you poolside!