Pool regulations for urbanisations

I have concerns as well. Recently the pool attendant at our urbanisation poured chemicals directly into the pool while children were in there! 

Although I'm not in a community, I did look at this subject some while ago, and the following is the write-up I did.

NC13 - hopefully what I say may add power to your elbow!

THE LEGISLATION:

Royal Decree 742/2013, 27 September, establishing the technical-sanitary criteria of swimming pools.

BOE-A-2013-10580

Where I refer to articles and clauses, I'm using those in the BOE.

FAMILY POOLS, NOT COMMUNAL:

Article 2. Definitions.

Clause 3b: Type 3B: single family pools.

Article 3. Scope.

Clause 3: Pools of private use of type 3B must comply with Article 13.

Article 13. Situations of incidence.

I'm not giving the translation, but what it says is that if one of the events described in part 7 of Annex V should occur, then the pool owner must establish why it happened and institute corrective and preventative measures.

The authorities must also be informed.

Annex V:

Notifiable instances are:

Drowning

Spinal cord injuries

Traumatic brain injuries

Severe burns

Electrocution

Chemical Poisoning

My conclusion:

There are no constraints on how private pools are to be maintained - carry on swimming!

COMMUNAL POOLS:

Article 2. Definitions.

Clause 3A: Communal pools are classed as type 3A.

Article 3. Scope.

Clause 2: Communal pools must comply with Articles 5, 6, 7, 10, 13 y 14.d), e) & f).

Article 5. Characteristics of the pool.

Clause 1: New or modified pools must comply with existing regulatory requirements (i.e. get a license)

Clause 2: The owner of the pool must ensure that its facilities have the right elements to prevent risks to health and ensure the safety of the facilities.

My comment: It's the legal responsibility of the community to ensure the pool is safe to use.

Article 6. Water treatment.

Clause 1: The treatments provided will be adequate to ensure the water quality of each vessel complies with the provisions of this law.

My comment: Basically, it's saying the pool must be safe enough to swim in.

Clause 2:

The water of any pool must be, at least, filtered and disinfected before entering the pool, the same as drinking water supply if this is not from the public supply.

My comment: This is clearly the critical requirement. OK, the water can obviously be regarded as having been filtered before entering the pool, but unless you've got a salt-water pool, it won't have been pre-disinfected. This certainly seems to be a new and expensive requirement but, as always, I stand to be corrected.

Clause 3: Chemical treatments are not to carried out directly in the pool. Water should circulate through the various treatment processes before reaching the pool.

My comment: This seems to reinforce my understanding of clause 2 above.

In justifiable situations, the chemical treatment may be done in the pool itself, always, after closure of the pool and with no swimmers in it, ensuring it is safe before re-opening.

My comment: This sounds like you've got a cop-out clause! Test the pool before it's opened in the morning to make sure the chemical balance is OK, take out any floaters containing chemical tablets, and all of a sudden you're in compliance with the law.

Article 7 Chemicals used for treatment of water in the pool

Clauses 1 & 2 say that pool chemicals must conform to the specifications referred to in this section.

My comment: No - you can't just pour in a bottle of bleach from Aldi, or a bottle of agua fuerte from Mercadona!

Clause 3: For new or modified pools, you must install an automatic or semi-automatic chemical dispensing system.

My comment: This means you can't manually dispense the chemicals, as with a floater, or chucking in some chlorine.

Artículo 10. Criterios de calidad del agua y aire.

Clause 1 says that the water must be free of pathogens and substances that may pose a risk to health, and must contain a disinfectant.

Article 13. Situations of incidence.

This is the same as for private pools

Article 14. Information for the public.

The owner of the pool will make available to users, in an accessible and easily visible place, at least the following information:

d) Information on the chemicals and compounds used in the treatment.

e) Information about the existence or otherwise of a lifeguard, and addresses and telephone numbers of the nearest health centres and emergency numbers.

f) The rules for use of the pool and rights and duties of users of the same.

My final comments:

As a former contracts manager, dealing with far more complicated requirements than this law, I would never have written the legislation in the terms it contains. I'd have written it so that there's no 'wriggle room'.

If you want to be fully compliant, you'll install equipment such that chemicals are added before circulated water enters the pool. OK, you could spend €3000 or whatever for kit that adds a measured dose of chemicals in the pump/filter cassette. However, you could also put your 3-in1 tablets or whatever in the pump filter, rather than in floaters in the pool itself.

Or you could, as I've indicated above, just check that the pool is safe to use every morning before it's opened to use. Perhaps that's what you do anyway - I've zero knowledge of communal pools. Perhaps that's why John Cox and his dad start working on pools at six o'clock every morning, while you're still fast asleep!

If you want to read the full legislation, and hilite relevant sections to stick under the president's nose or bring up at an AGM, it's here:

https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2013/10/11/pdfs/BOE-A-2013-10580.pdf

Thanks, Jim. I had found and read this previously and it was helpful. If anybody knows the law regarding fencing and a gate for the pool it would be good to read. I have seen a couple of articles, but want to be able to print off the actual legal requirements.

Could this be what you're looking for? I haven't got time to read it properly at the moment.

BOE-A-2010-4056

https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2010/03/11/pdfs/BOE-A-2010-4056.pdf

Sección SUA 6

Seguridad frente al riesgo de ahogamiento

1.1 Barreras de protección

1 Las piscinas en las que el acceso de niños a la zona de baño no esté controlado dispondrán de barreras de protección que impidan su acceso al vaso excepto a través de puntos previstos para ello, los cuales tendrán elementos practicables con sistema de cierre y bloqueo.

2 Las barreras de protección tendrán una altura mínima de 1,20 m, resistirán una fuerza horizontal aplicada en el borde superior de 0,5 kN/m y tendrán las condiciones constructivas establecidas en el apartado 3.2.3 de la Sección SUA 1.