Keeping Your Hot Tubs And Swimming Pools Safe From Coronavirus

With guidelines and restrictions constantly changing it can be difficult to know what activities are safe and allowed. In this blog, we’ll look at the ways that you can keep your hot tub and swimming pool as safe as possible during this hard time. We’ll also look at the reasons why it is safe to continue using your swimming pool or hot tub during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Guidance

One of the best resources for getting up to date information on the scientific facts around Coronavirus and what activities are safe is the Centre for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC deals with the safety risks surrounding COVID-19 and they have got this to say about the use of hot tubs and pools:

“There is no evidence that COVID-19 can be spread to humans through the use of pools and hot tubs. Proper operation, maintenance, and disinfection (e.g. with chlorine and bromine) of pools and hot tubs should remove or inactivate the virus that causes COVID-19.”

So, what does this mean? Essentially, as long as you are carrying out a proper maintenance and disinfection routine as part of the operation of your pool or hot tub then you should not have to worry about the spread of Coronavirus while using these facilities.

Ways to keep safe

As mentioned above, proper maintenance and disinfection is a key element in helping to ensure the safe operation of your pool or tub. UV systems and chemical dosing should continue to be used as part of your regular pool maintenance to help kill off any pathogens and bacteria in the water.

You should also ensure that people are cleaning their body before entering the pool or hot tub to help keep the water as sanitary as possible. In line with government guidelines you will also need to ensure the following measures are taken:

• Social distancing
  Social distancing measures should be put in place to limit the number of people that can use the facilities at any one time. The easiest way to do this is to require people to book a time slot for usage.
• Temperature checks
  Temperature checks are a great option to help minimise the risk of people who may potentially have Coronavirus from using your pool or hot tub. In addition to this people should be discouraged from using facilities when they are ill or showing any of the symptoms associated with Coronavirus. While chemicals and cleaning systems should effectively kill the virus in the water there is still a risk of them spreading infection by touching other surfaces and equipment.
• Cleaning routine
  Strict cleaning regimes should be implemented to disinfect all hard surfaces and regular microbiological tests should be performed on the water to make sure that it is safe. It is also a good idea to limit the use of shared facilities such as changing rooms to help prevent the spread of the virus.