nor is strict compliance intended but rather they may be used as an arbitrary tool to assess the suitability of the water for use over an extended period of time. However the chemical and microbiological criteria detailed in the guidelines can be used by health authorities when investigating complaints and disease outbreaks. The following comments are all derived from the guidelines, however they are not complete and all operators should obtain a full copy as detailed at the end of this discussion.

Swimming and spa pools fall into one of three categories of disease transmission under the guidelines--high, medium and low risk. These categories are based on bather load, level of environmental contamination likely, the climatic conditions (e.g. temperature) and the health status, if known, of the bathers using the pool. The higher the risk of disease transmission for the pool, the more increased monitoring requirements apply. It is possible for a pool to be high risk during the warmer months and low risk during the winter months. The risk category effects the levels of operator supervision, degree of record keeping and the frequency of chemical and microbiological testing. The microbiological criteria for swimming or spa pools as specified in the guidelines is shown below.