Pool Management

Swimming Pool Monitoring Checks – Industry Standards

See below for the industry standards for monitoring checks on various types of pools:

Swimming Pools
Spa Pools
Hydrotherapy Pools
Hot Tubs

The numbers cross reference to where the guidance comes from. This might assist pool plant operators when discussing issues with management.

	Swimming Pools	Spa Pools	Hydrotherapy Pools	Hot Tubs
Check water clarity before first use	Daily	Daily at opening and every two hours thereafter ²	Daily	At least twice daily depending on risk assessment and usage ²
Check automatic dosing systems are operating (including ozone or UV lamp if fitted)	Daily	Daily ² Before opening the pool	Daily	Daily ²
Readouts from the controller checked against the results from manual tests of the sample cell.	Daily ¹	Daily ¹	Daily ¹	-
Check that the amounts of dosing chemicals in the reservoirs are adequate	Daily	Daily ² Before opening the pool	Daily	Daily where appropriate ²
Determine pH value and residual disinfectant concentration (automatically controlled systems)	Daily ¹ At least 3 times per day	Daily ² Before opening the pool, and then every 2 hours	Daily Before the pool opens, every two hours while it is open and then after it closes.	At least twice daily depending on risk assessment and usage ²
Determine pH value and residual disinfectant concentration (non-automatic systems)	Daily ¹ Before the pool opens, every two hours while it is open and then after it closes.	Daily ¹ Before the pool opens, every two hours while it is open and then after it closes.	Daily ¹ Before the pool opens, every two hours while it is open and then after it closes.	Daily ¹ Before the pool opens, every two hours while it is open and then after it closes.
Determine combined chlorine concentration	Depending on risk assessment and usage	Depending on risk assessment and usage	Depending on risk assessment and usage	Depending on risk assessment and usage
TDS check	Weekly ¹	Daily ²	Weekly	-
Clean water-line, overflow channels and grills	At last monthly ³	Daily ² At the end of the day after closing the pool	At least weekly ³	Check daily and clean as appropriate but as a minimum at water replacement ²
Clean pool surround	Daily ¹	Daily ² At the end of the day after closing the pool	Daily	Check daily and clean as appropriate but as a minimum at water replacement ²
Backwash sand filter	According to filter manufacturer guidelines, or pressure gauge readings ³ At least weekly ³	Daily ^{2, 3} At the end of the day after closing the pool ²	According to filter manufacturer guidelines, or pressure gauge readings ³ At least weekly ³	-
Check, clean, disinfect and dry filter cartridge	-	-	-	Between each group of users or weekly, whichever is shorter ²
Inspect strainers, clean and remove all debris if needed	Every backwash	Daily ² At the end of the day after closing the pool	Every backwash	At water replacement ²
Record any untoward incidents	Daily	Daily ² At the end of the day after closing the pool	Daily	As appropriate ²
Drain spa pool, clean whole system including strainers and refill	-	Daily to weekly based on risk assessment ²	-	Between each group of users or at least weekly, whichever is shorter ²
Drain and clean balance tank	Inspected once per year and cleaned as necessary ³	At least twice per year based on risk assessment and weekly visual checks ^{2, 3}	Inspected once per year and cleaned as necessary	-
Microbiological tests (colony count, coliforms, E coli, P aeruginosa)	Monthly ¹	Monthly ²	Weekly ¹	Monthly ²
Microbiological tests (legionella)	Not normally required unless risk assessment indicates a problem	Quarterly ^{2, 3}	Quarterly ³	Quarterly ²
Remove and inspect accessible pipework and jets for presence of biofilm; clean as necessary	-	Weekly ²	-	Weekly ²
Disinfect flexible hoses	-	Monthly ²	-	Monthly ²
Clean input air filter	-	Monthly ²	-	Monthly ²
Check all automatic systems are operating correctly e.g. safety cut-outs, automatic timers etc.	-	Daily ²	-	Daily, where fitted ²
Disinfectant/pH controller - clean electrode and check calibration	Monthly or according to manufacturers’ instructions	Monthly or according to manufacturers’ instructions ²	Monthly or according to manufacturers’ instructions	Monthly, where fitted, or according to manufacturers’ instructions ²
Check sand filter and effectiveness of filtration	Annual check and sand replacement every 5 – 10 years ³	Quarterly check and annual sand replacement ²		-
Clean and disinfect airlines	-	Quarterly ²	-	Weekly where appropriate ²

Get Qualified

Achieve a PWTAG approved Pool Plant Operator qualification

Learn More

Pool Water Treatment Advisory Service

Ongoing expert support to help you manage all aspects of your swimming pool operation.

Learn More