A pool plant course enables staff working in facilities that have any type of pool (such as leisure centres, hotels, schools, hospitals, holiday parks etc.) to become qualified pool plant operators.
We offer pool plant courses at two levels, Foundation and Operator. Find out more about each of our pool plant operator courses below.
It’s a legal requirement for companies operating commercial pools to ensure that that the water is safe, clean and hygienic. They must also ensure that staff who are involved in operating the pool are fully trained and competent. This is especially important as the pool water treatment process involves extremely hazardous chemicals.
Pool Plant Operator
The Pool Plant Operator Certificate is widely recognised as being the industry-standard qualification.
It is aimed at people working with commercial swimming pools, spas, hydrotherapy pools etc. who need a thorough and comprehensive understanding of swimming pool water treatment and pool plant operations.
We recommend that ALL commercial pools have enough fully qualified pool plant operators to ensure that there is one available at all times that the pool is in use.
The course covers….
- The Management of Swimming Pools
- Pollution
- Swimming Pool Environment: Design, Cleanliness and Hygiene
- Main Features of a Pool Plant System
- Circulation/Hydraulics
- Filtration/Coagulation
- Primary Disinfection
- Secondary Disinfection
- pH Control
- Chemical Dosing
- Pool Water Testing
- Health & Safety
- Air Handling and Energy Efficiency
The classroom Pool Plant Operator course is delivered over 18 hours. The online course you can complete at your own pace, but it might take longer.
- Exam – 20 multiple format questions. Learners will need to score 15/20 to pass. This is completed on the final day of the course on face-to-face courses or online for e-learning courses. The following assessment criteria is to be completed following the course.
- Water testing – learners will need to send us evidence of them carrying out the full range of water tests. This can be done either by the management signing an evidence sheet to say the learner is competent or a video file sent to us with the learner completing the task.
- Schematic – learners are to sketch out a schematic diagram their pool and associated water treatment system system.
- Backwash – learners will need to send us evidence of them carrying out a full backwash procedure (including removal and cleaning of pre-pump strainers). This can be done either by the management signing an evidence sheet to say the learner is competent or a video file sent to us with the learner completing the required tasks.
You must be at least 18 years of age.
We recommend that ALL commercial swimming pools/spas etc. have enough staff who hold the full Pool Plant Operator Certificate to ensure that there is always a holder of this qualification on shift whenever the pool is in use. In addition, we recommend that at least one person from senior management at each facility that operates a pool should also hold the full Pool Plant Operator Certificate.
Once that level of provision has been established, duty holders should look to enhance their teams competence by ensuring that as many people who have involvement in running the pool, or supervising activities (e.g. swim teachers, lifeguards, maintenance staff etc.) hold at least the Pool Plant Foundation Certificate. This course can be delivered face-to-face or online.
We have seen a common pattern repeat itself at many facilities where far too few staff are competent to look after the swimming pool. Sometimes we find that there is only one person who has received any type of accredited training at the facility. Situations such as these mean that there is no contingency factored in to the system that would enable the facility to cope when their only qualified pool plant operator leaves. We strongly advise managers to look at their staff training arrangements in anticipation of problems like these and ensure that they have the necessary resilience built in to their staffing arrangements.
We hope this article help you to select the appropriate pool plant course for your needs, but if you need any further assistance, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’ll do our best to help.
Online (e-learning)
For maximum convenience and cost savings, our online Pool Plant Operator course can be completed online.
For Individuals…
For Businesses…
Are you buying this course for a colleague or looking to put several staff members on a course? We’ve taken all the hassle out of the process and made it easy and efficient.
You simply select how many places you want (adding additional places at a later time is easy) and then input the names and email addresses of the staff members you want to allocate those places to. They receive an email with all the information they need to get started on their course and you will be assigned as the Group Leader.
As Group Leader, you’ll be granted access to a dashboard from where you will be able to control all aspects of the group, including assigning additional Group Leaders, monitoring learner progress and adding more learners to the group as required.
Don’t want to be the Group Leader? No problem, you can easily assign someone else as the Group Leader.
You can pay via credit/debit card or we can send you an invoice.
Onsite (face-to-face learning)
One of our experts comes to your site and delivers the course to your staff over 3 days. The course will be based around your own plant room.
Pool Plant Operation Revalidation
The revalidation course allows you to maintain your Pool Plant Operator Certificate. If you have kept your skills and knowledge up-to-date during the validity period of your qualification, you should have no trouble completing the revalidation course in less than a day, but you are free to take it at your own pace as long as you complete the course before the expiry of your certificate.
Please note that we only revalidate certificates awarded by Stockwell Safety.
For Individuals...
For Businesses...
Pool Plant Foundation
The Pool Plant Foundation course is aimed at people working in support of fully-qualified Pool Plant Operators. It provides them with the skills and knowledge to test and monitor the water conditions and respond quickly to emergency scenarios.
The Pool Plant Foundation course can be fully completed online, which is a useful option where it might be difficult to have staff away from the day job while attending a classroom course. To try a sample lesson, click here.
