Pools and spas

Standards of practice – microbiological quality

Pool operators must ensure that swimming pools and spa pools open for use to the general public meet specified microbiological standards. These parameters are as follows:

• total bacterial count must be less than 100 colony forming units (cfu) per ml.
• coliform bacteria must not be detected in 100 ml
• pseudomonas aeruginosa must not be detected in 100 ml.

The above parameters are required to be tested by a laboratory.

These parameters are tested twice a year by the City of Melbourne. It is recommended that businesses take a proactive approach and arrange for their own periodic testing.

Whenever a water sample has not complied with the microbiological standards, the following steps are to be taken:

1. The pool must be shock dosed with chlorine or bromine.
2. The pool water treatment and water maintenance program must be reviewed.
3. Any faults should be corrected and necessary actions should be taken to avoid re-occurrence.
   A further sample should be taken to an approved laboratory for re-testing.
4. If the analysis shows that the water sample complies with the standards, then the problem has been rectified.

If the results of the second test are still unsatisfactory, then steps 1 to 4 must be repeated to ensure that the water is safe for public use. The pool is to be closed until the problem has been attended to and the results comply with the standards.

Disinfection and other parameters

There are specific disinfection parameters for swimming pools and spa pools that are set in the Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations.