If you manage a public or commercial swimming pool, you're no stranger to paperwork. Among the most critical records you must maintain are pool chemical log sheets: the daily logs that track the test results and chemical adjustments for your pools’ pH levels, chlorine concentration, and other essential water quality parameters.
In this post, we’ll break down the requirements for storing chemical logs, why they matter, and what industry best practices recommend to stay compliant and audit-ready.
In every state, your local Health Department requires public and commercial pools to perform regular pool water quality tests. While these requirements vary state-by-state, and sometimes even county by county, at a bare minimum, you’re required to perform these tests in the morning before opening and at closing time. In some cases, you may be required to perform these tests hourly.
While any staff member can perform these tests, most states now also require a Certified Pool Operator to be the person making the actual chemical adjustments.
Failing to accurately perform these tests, make the necessary adjustments, and log the results can make your pools liable for fines. It can even lead to your pool being shut down or closed.
This is because Health Departments view both water quality and these tests as an essential requirement to protect public health. And, rightfully so. There are serious consequences that can come from unbalanced pool water, from skin, eye, and lung irritation to disease spread, hospitalization, and, in the worst cases, death.
Logging water tests and adjustments enables pool operators, managers, and owners to know precisely what is happening with pool water at a given time. You need to have pool logs so you have accurate records for your own working knowledge, as well as for when the Health Department stops by.
Their other purpose is just as crucial for your facility or business: pool chemical log sheets are essentially your pool’s insurance policy. In the event someone does get sick, they are the only proof you have that the pool water has been taken care of and the chemicals balanced.
Like other laws, regulations, and codes governing pool operations, how long your pool is required to keep pool chemical log sheets varies by state, county, and even municipality. For some states, the requirement is to keep them for multiple years–often between three to seven. Our recommendation is always to, first of all, know and understand the current requirements your pool or pools must adhere to. Second, keep all pool chemical log sheets until the statute of limitations expires.
There are a few reasons why the traditional paper log books are not the best for keeping accurate records, long term. For starters, paper and water don’t mix well, and even laminated log sheets or log books can be easily misplaced or lost–especially when you have multiple staff members handling them throughout a given day. Printing new log sheets can also be a waste of time, paper, ink, and money, and premade, “waterproof” upgrade books are costly.
Then, there’s the amount of storage space you have to devote to these logbooks; pools who test water three to four times daily may go through one every month during operating season.
Paper log sheets are also more easily forged, a practice that happens when pool operators get too busy or pool testing is handed off to junior staff members who don’t fully grasp the responsibility of the job. As you know, forged log books can have multiple consequences. Swimmers can get hurt, and if they decide to take legal action, the pool will be found liable. Take, for example, what happened at a Resort in Myrtle Beach, North Carolina a few years ago.
A 3-year old child suffered severe chlorine burns after swimming in the resort’s pool over Memorial Day weekend. While fortunately, after a week receiving treatment in the hospital, the child made a full recovery, it was found during the course of a federal lawsuit that “the chlorine level records submitted to the South Carolina Department of Environmental Control had been falsified over several years.”
The DHEC shut down the pool, arrested the pool operator on criminal charges, and the resort was required to pay a $26 million settlement.
While there are some clear signs of forged pool chemical log sheets–such as chlorine readings that are exactly the same for multiple tests and days in a row–as seen in this case, it’s not always quickly or easily caught with paper log sheets.
A digital pool log book like Pool Shark H2O prevents record falsification by automatically marking pool chemical log records with the date and time the test was entered. This prohibits back or future dating of records and provides accountability for staff as well as a better record for liability purposes.
Once pool test results are entered, Pool Shark H2O instantly performs the complex math of dosage calculations, so you can easily make any chemistry corrections to ensure your body of water is safe for your swimmers.
Test results and adjustments are logged and locked automatically, and remotely accessible from anywhere–making it simple for multiple staff members to use, as well as for pool operators, managers, and owners to check in on pool water quality, even across multiple bodies of water.
This helps reduce the number of on-site visits to pools, and ensures 100% Health Department compliance. Log sheets are stored digitally for as long as you’re required to, saving physical space, time, and money, and making it simple to pull up accurate log sheets when needed.
Pools can be a lot of fun for everyone–that’s our ultimate goal. But we can only achieve this goal through healthy, balanced water. Running water quality tests, logging the results and adjustments accurately, and maintaining accurate records is the best way to manage pool water through every shift in chemistry.
Pool Shark H2O is precise, effective, cost-effective, and significantly lowers both health and business risk for pool owners and operators, from HOA and apartment pools to multi-location aquatic centers.