I've been annoyed by something they do at one of the YMCAs I swim at. The lifeguards wash down the pool deck with a high powered hose -- while people are swimming.
I kind of just let it slide until one day when one of the lifeguards scrubbed down the deck first with a stiff-bristled broom and some sort of sudsy cleaning solution. When he started to wash that away with the high powered hose, I stopped him. "Dude -- You're gonna wash all that crap into the water I'm swimming in..." I made him wait until I was done. So that left a slippery deck...
I asked the aquatics director why they do this. "To wash the crud out from between the floor tiles. Otherwise we get mold..."
I told him, "Yeah, but your're washing that crud into the pool water that I'm swimming in!" He replied, "Well, there's chlorine in the water..."
I told him chlorine doesn't kill stuff right away. He said, "Well we have the water tested twice a year by the health department and we always pass. We also check the levels several times a day and are always withing guidelines."
I asked him why they can't do this after the pool closes so that people aren't swimming in the stuff immediately. The chlorine can work overnite, and the fliters can get the large pieces that get washed in before anyone has to swim in it again. "Cost savings issues." (I thought that was pretty frank! It's honest, but it also says that to save a few bucks each day, they're willing to expose their members to health risks from the crud that gets washed in, and to safety risks from the standing water that is left on the decks after they're done.)
I also pointed out that chlorine might kill the pathogens in the water, but it doesn't kill what gets washed onto our water bottled at the edge of the pool.
Anyway, I ended up sending email to the management/director chain at this YMCA, and CCd the regional YMCA director. I got a call from several people, and each told me I can request that the lifeguards wait until I'm done swimming if they start washing down the deck when I'm there. And I've done that. Lifeguards comply. (Today the lifeguard said, "It's just water!" I said, "If you lick the pool deck right now, I'll let you continue..." She wouldn't. I said, "OK, I'll be done in 20 minutes." And she waited.)
But I'm interested in thoughts from others here. Do you think there is no problem with this practice? If I want it to stop, what steps would you recommend?
(FWIW, I emailed the local health department. They don't have funding to check out pools. Budget cuts, you know...)
Guv
