Chris Gordon walks around the pool at the Mount Vernon RECenter tugging on the ladders, looking at the lights, counting the swimmers and generally looking for the slightest safety hazard. As one of four members of the Fairfax County Department of Health’s “pool team” it is Gordon’s job to make sure the pool and its personnel are up to the county’s standards.
“He finds things I don’t notice because I’m here every day. It’s a really good tool for checking behind us. It’s a fresh set of eyes,” said Matt Lyon, the aquatics manager at the center. “All of us [pool operators] are suppose to be certified, but I’d hate to say it, some people don’t always take it seriously and miss some things. The health inspectors won’t miss anything because they have a check list.”
IN ALL, Fairfax County — including the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church and the towns of Herndon, Vienna and Clifton — has 530 seasonal outdoor pools and about 70 year-round indoor pools. All of which need to be inspected. The pools are under the jurisdiction of the community health and safety section of the environmental health division of the county’s health department. During the summer, four environmental health specialists are assigned to the pool team to inspect the outdoor pools at least three times during the season, which traditionally runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Before each seasonal pool opens, it must undergo a “preopening inspection,” which ensures the physical structure of the pool is intact after the winter weather and its mechanical equipment is properly working and safe. Then throughout the summer, each pool is inspected at least twice. The unannounced inspections are more thorough, covering the areas of personnel, water quality, the recirculation system, safety and safety equipment, the pool and premises, and other facilities such as bathrooms. In addition, the inspectors will investigate complaints made by the general public.
“Last year, about 23 percent of the pools were closed during their first inspection for imminent heath hazards. An imminent health hazard is something that cannot be corrected immediately,” said Gordon, adding that most of the pools were able to reopen the same day after correcting the problem and undergoing another inspection.
The pool team will close a pool for things such as malfunctioning equipment, lack of certified personnel, missing or broken drain covers or even the lack of a direct, hard-wired telephone. He said that in general, the No. 1 major violation is inadequate amounts of chlorine. Although, some times Mother Nature can be the cause of a pool closure.
“Last year, at one place a 40-foot-tall pine tree fell through the fencing and onto the deck and I had to close the pool,” Gordon said. “And it was over the Fourth of July weekend.”
THE COUNTY CODE governing pools was updated in 2001 and is generally more stringent that the state code, said Gordon. For instance, the county requires one lifeguard on-duty for every 50 swimmers for all pools. The state requirement excludes apartments, motels and motor lodges. The county also requires more inspections throughout the season than other localities. In addition, pools must post a daily water-quality reading; display a permit to operate; have personnel certified in lifeguarding, first aid and CPR, and have at least one person certified as a pool operator; post spa rules; have access to the pool area through bathrooms; have a working, hard-wired telephone; have the proper safety equipment and outdoor pools must be surrounded by a 6-foot-tall fence, among others. And anyone can request to see a pool’s inspection file from the health department, Gordon said.
“We don’t [inspect] backyard home pools, but we do go to hotels, gyms and spas,” Gordon said. “Basically, if it has water people get into, we inspect it.”
During a preopening inspection, Gordon follows a checklist that contains 28 items. For an unannounced inspection, the list grows to 44 items. Last Friday, Gordon spent just over an hour at the Mount Vernon RECenter walking every inch of the pool deck looking for all the required postings, checking to make sure ladders are secure and checking the physical state of the pool itself, including having the proper drain covers, no cracks on the deck, and working underwater lighting. He also checks the filtration equipment, the first aid kit, the required safety devises and the personnel’s certifications. In addition, he asks the staff to test the water quality while he is there.
“I ask for a water sample to test their knowledge,” Gordon said. “I know how to do test readings. I want to see if he knows.”
Having Gordon stop by unexpectedly is worth it, said Lyon. “It lets our customers know the health inspectors come in on a regular basis and that we’re within the guidelines,” he said.