We all know how to take care of a swimming pool. But you may be in a position where hiring someone else to do it just makes more sense due to your other responsibilities. Or, you may not know how to take care of a swimming pool. Either way, when looking for help, you have options and certain things to look for.
Hiring a CPO
CPO stands for Certified Pool Operator. This means the CPO has taken an extensive pool knowledge course that covers water chemistry, water safety, emergency situation control, and more! Once they pass the course, they are issued a certificate by the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance. You may have an employee on your team that you feel would be great at taking care of the swimming pool. It might make sense to get them CPO certified so they can safely take care of your bodies of water.
You can hire an outside CPO to do the job. This could be an individual who may have a swimming pool route. Or, you may wish to put them on payroll and have them onsite for designated hours. It really depends on your needs. Every CPO knows the importance of swimming pool logs. Make it easy on them by getting accurate results and easily accessible logs.
This can be done with the Pool Shark H2O App. When paired with the LaMotte spin lab, your CPO will have results in a minute. The results are also sent to designated devices where anyone you want can access them. No spin lab? No problem. With the Pool Shark H2O App, you can manually enter your results and get proper dosing instructions. The App also keeps all of your inputs so your pool water test result logs are always in a safe place and accessible by any team member. This can come in really handy if a health inspector were to come by. No need to scramble to find old-fashioned paper logs that most likely have been neglected. Make sure the CPO you choose has experience with commercial pools and their requirements. We want to be in compliance, but most importantly, safe.
Hiring a Swimming Pool Maintenance Company
This is a little different because you are hiring an actual company versus an individual. Having worked at a swimming pool management company, I am familiar with caring for commercial properties. Make sure you ask the potential company if they have commercial experience. We did not use the Pool Shark H2O App. Guess what? We had swimming pools get shut down due to unbalanced water chemistry and incomplete, or missing, swimming pool test logs. We had very unhappy customers and rightfully so.
The Pool Shark H2O App keeps whoever is taking care of the swimming pool honest. Whether using the LaMotte Spin lab or manually testing, you can view the results and check your swimming pool’s water balance at any time. If we are going to pay someone, we want them to do their job, right? This includes accurate testing, accurate chemical dosing, and accurate record keeping. You are liable for any missed tests or unbalanced water. The Pool Shark H2O App simplifies water management.
I would also ask for references from other commercial properties they service currently or in the past. You’ll need to decide if you want them onsite every day for a full shift or if you just want them to visit “x” amount of times per week. Make sure they are knowledgeable about the equipment you have as well. This will help them to be able to alert you if they see any potential issues.
Being the Pool Operator vs Hiring a Pool Maintenance Company
You may decide you want to take care of the pool yourself. If you have never taken care of a swimming pool, I recommend you become a CPO. I also highly recommend the Pool Shark H2O App and the LaMotte spin lab. They help you with so many things such as current water balance, steps to correct any fields out of range, notifications on when your drain covers need to be changed, and what to do in case of an AFR (accidental fecal release).
The best part, in my opinion, is it logs every test for you. It makes being a pool operator more simple AND accurate. How cool is that? Pool Shark H2O to the rescue! See you poolside!
