Is Your Pool Technician CPO Certified?

Is Your Pool Technician CPO certified? 

I have to ask, Is your Pool Technician CPO certified? Southwest Florida climate allows many communities and commercial properties like hotels to have pools open year-round.  This means pool companies are hired to maintain pool health & safety standards.  Many pool-goers assume that communities or hotel properties have got it covered when maintaining pools.  However, you may want to ask the person managing the property if the pool technicians are CPO certified.

You may have seen the “CPO certified” icon when choosing a pool company.  But do you know what the acronym stands for and why you should know what it means?  You’re probably thinking, I gotta know another acronym.  The answer is yes, but the good news is that it’s a simple one.  CPO means Certified Pool Operator.  Should your community or property have one?  Let’s think about this….

 

What Does A Certified Pool Operator do?

A CPO technician’s job is to ensure that the pool is healthy and safe. The technician is qualified to perform chemical checks for healthy water.  Unbalanced water causes unhealthy water. Unhealthy water may have bacteria causing skin conditions or even illness.  Illness can occur if the water isn’t balanced over a long period of time.  Also, unbalanced water can cause harmful algae to grow if chemicals aren’t used or balanced correctly.  Have no fear, a CPO technician can troubleshoot unbalanced water to make it balanced again.  Technicians who aren’t Certified Pool Operators may not be able to fix the water balance appropriately.  This is especially true when managing smaller bodies of water like spas or kiddie pools.

 

Why Are They Important?

Any commercial or homeowners association pools can be shut down if the Department of Health (DOH) pool inspection requirements aren’t met.  The Department of Health has specific requirements that all pools are to follow for health and safety reasons.  This means maintaining water chemistry balance through chemical checks.  Ensuring that pool equipment is locked and stored properly.  Sign-in logs and record keeping are required for pool service maintenance completion.  These are just a few, but these procedures ensure communities are in compliance for pool health & safety.

So what happens if you travel or aren’t sure that your community pool water is safe?  Purchase a travel kit that provides “dipsticks” to check for balanced water.  These kits are inexpensive and can be found online or in pool supply stores.  Full transparency, these kits aren’t 100% accurate.   However, they are reliable enough to arm you with information about an unhealthy pool.  Always report this issue to the person managing the property.

When it’s all said and done, a CPO-certified technician can be the person who makes a difference for a healthy and safe pool environment.  Not only do they have the knowledge and expertise to troubleshoot water risks and safety issues.  They can resolve these issues by fixing it themselves or finding the right people to do so.  Do you want to be responsible for someone becoming ill because the pool water wasn’t safe or functioning properly?  So when you’re looking for a pool company for your community or property, ask the question “Are your pool technicians CPO qualified?” You’ll be glad you did.