This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
POOL PLANT – CRYPTOSPORIDIUM


• Ensuring all user groups have clear information and understand all the procedures. • Advertise that people with diarrhoea must not swim for 48 hours afterwards. Those who have been diagnosed with cryptosporidiosis must not swim for 14 days after diarrhoea has stopped.


• Encourage parents to adopt practices which will limit the chances of faecal contamination – display education posters in the leisure centre / changing rooms for example.


• Persuade bathers to wash and shower before swimming; again use posters at poolside and in the changing rooms


• Operators should be able to identify the type of filtration they have for the individual pools or facilities i.e. medium or high rate (or any other type e.g. diatomaceous earth etc.) and apply the proven protocols diligently.


• Continuous low-level dosing of a flocculant / coagulant is recommended for all pools to improve the filtration efficiency with medium rate filtration.


• Correct backwashing protocol is critical: • Backwashing of filters should be done at least once a week or more frequently as the filter pressure differential dictates and according to the manufacturer’s literature for the filters installed.


• Backwashing should not take place during bathing and should allow the


www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk


filters to re-compact before any use - normally last thing at night. Only one filter should be backwashed at a time.


• Ensure there is an appropriate Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for a loose runny stool. Also appropriate documentation and awareness.


• For pools with high rate filters there should be volumes of chemicals present to attain the super chlorination and de-chlorination together with flocculant / coagulant to administer – training in this area is important.


• Ensure there is an effective disinfectant residual, and an appropriate pH, at all times.


• Surface water treatment should be present and effective.


• Clear schematics of the pool / feature purification systems should be clearly understood by the designated operator.


• Having competent trained staff with site based knowledge.


• Having competent trained contactors with site based knowledge.


• Ensuring a robust maintenance programme is in place to ensure pool plant and circulation systems operate effectively.


• Ensuring clear records and graphics of all recommended plant checks (e.g. filter condition) are undertaken and recorded.


This article also applies to any closed circuit wet leisure provisions e.g. conventional pools, hydro pools, paddling pools, interactive play


features, fountains etc.


For further information contact the STA, the UK’s leading experts on pool plant training. SPN


STA 01922 645097 www.sta.co.uk


10 HEADLINE FACTS ABOUT CRYPTOSPORIDIUM


1. An illness caused by Cryptosporidium is characterised by diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, loss of appetite, low-grade fever, nausea, and vomiting.


2. Especially common in children.


3. The largest numbers of outbreaks are caused by recreational swimming pools.


4. 8% of patient cases continue to use a pool while infected.


5. 5-7 day incubation period. 6. 12.7 days (average duration of illness).


7. 14% of infected patients in one study were admitted to hospital for an average of 3 days.


8. The parasite can continue to be shed after symptoms have ceased.


9. Can be prolonged and life-threatening in severely immunocompromised patients; management of high risk patients is especially difficult due to lack of proven treatment regimes.


10. 2012 showed the highest number of cases in the UK and Europe for over 20 years.


SPN June 2013 43


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100