The following rules and regulations of the Board
of Health, Marple Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, governing
the design, construction, equipment and operation of swimming pools
and public bathing places within the Township, and the licensing thereof
within the Township, adopted by the Board of Health on Tuesday, March
19, 1957, be and the same are hereby adopted and approved.
Rules and Regulations of the Board of Health,
Marple Township, Governing the Design, Construction, Equipment and
Operation of Swimming Pools and Public Bathing Places and the Licensing
Thereof Within the Township.
Effective with the date on which these rules
and regulations are approved by the Board of Commissioners of the
Township, no swimming pool or other public bathing place shall be
constructed in the Township unless and until the following conditions
shall have been met:
A. No public or semipublic pool or other public or semipublic
bathing place shall be constructed except in accordance with at least
the minimum requirements for such structures set forth in the Report
of the Joint Committee on Bathing Places of the American Public Health
Association and Conference of State Sanitary Engineers: Recommended
Practice for the Design, Equipment and Operation of Swimming Pools
and Other Public Bathing Places, 1949, or later edition, published
by the American Public Health Association. Any persons desiring to
construct such public or semipublic swimming pool or other public
bathing place shall, prior to such construction, submit to the Board
for approval a plan or sketch of the proposed construction, in sufficient
detail to permit determination of compliance with the minimum specifications
set forth above, and shall not begin such construction until approval
of the proposed plan or sketch has been received, in writing, from
the Board.
B. No private pool or other bathing place shall be constructed
in the Township unless, prior to such construction, a plan or sketch
in sufficient detail to permit determination that the proposed construction
will not constitute a health hazard in the Township shall be submitted
to and shall be approved in writing by the Board.
C. Any person desiring to construct any pool or other public bathing place in the Township shall, at the time the plan or sketch referred to in Subsections
A and
B of these rules and regulations is submitted to the Board, pay to the Township an application fee according to the following schedule:
[Amended 6-10-1985 by Ord. No. 85-7]
(1) Public or semipublic pools or bathing places: as set
from time to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.
(2) Private pools or bathing places: as set from time
to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.
D. In the event that the required plan or sketch referred to in Subsections
A and
B of these rules and regulations is not approved by the Board, the application fee described in Subsection
C shall not be returned to the applicant, but the applicant shall be permitted to submit a corrected or amended plan or sketch to the Board for approval without payment of an additional fee.
[Amended 6-9-1980 by Ord. No. 80-10; 6-10-1985 by Ord. No.
85-7; 9-11-1989 by Ord. No. 89-23]
Effective with the date of approval of these
rules and regulations by the Board of Commissioners of the Township,
every person desiring to operate any pool or other bathing place in
the Township shall, on or before May 1 of each calendar year, pay
to the Township an annual license fee according to the following schedule:
A. Public or semipublic pools or bathing places: as set
from time to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.
In the case of a pool or other bathing place the construction of which is completed after May 1 of any calendar year, the license fee as described in §
269-5 shall be paid to the Township before such pool or bathing place is placed in operation. In all cases the full annual license fee shall be paid without regard to the date on which application for such license is made.
The annual license issued by the Township as
described above shall be plainly posted or readily produced by the
operator of the pool for examination by agents or representatives
of the Township or the Board.
The Board shall, at its discretion, make inspections
of all pools or bathing places in the Township at such times and frequency
as the Board shall deem advisable in order to determine that no condition
exists in or at the pool or bathing place which shall constitute a
health hazard to the Township or the users of the pool or bathing
place or their accessory facilities. In the event that a health hazard
is detected, the owner or operator of the pool or bathing place shall
be so notified and shall be given such time as the Board shall deem
sufficient to correct the condition or defect which creates the health
hazard. Failure to correct the condition or defect creating the health
hazard within the time period authorized by the Board shall result
in either revocation of the annual license issued for the pool or
bathing place by the Township and the closing of the pool or bathing
place or the imposition of such fines or penalties as are prescribed
by these rules and regulations, or both.
Whenever in the opinion of the Board an emergency
of a health nature exists in the Township, the Board may order the
temporary closing of any or all pools or bathing places in the Township
until such time as the Board directs that the health emergency no
longer exists.
The following rules of operation of pools or
public bathing places within the Township shall be observed effective
with the date of approval of these rules and regulations by the Board
of Commissioners of the Township.
A. All pools shall be treated with such agents as are
suitable to maintain the bacterial content of the water in the pool
at a level consistent with safe use by human beings.
(1) The introduction of the bactericidal agent referred to in Subsection
A above shall, in the case of public or semipublic pools or bathing places, be made by approved metering devices unless otherwise authorized by the Board.
(2) The introduction of the bactericidal agent referred to in Subsection
A above shall, in the case of private pools, be made in such fashion as will maintain a satisfactory bactericidal level of the agent in the water.
B. All pools shall be treated with such agents as are
suitable to maintain the algicidal content of the water in the pool
at a level consistent with safe use by human beings.
(1) The requirements for introduction of the algicidal agent described in Subsection
B above shall be made as described for public or semipublic pools or bathing places in Subsection
A(1) above and for private pools or bathing places in Subsection
A(2) above.
C. The minimum required concentration of bactericidal
agent in all pools shall be as follows:
(1) Chlorine-type agents: 0.5 ppm.
(2) Chloramine-type agents: 0.7 ppm.
(3) Other agents: as approved by the Board.
D. The minimum required concentration of algicidal agent
in all pools shall be that approved by the Board for the particular
agent proposed for use by the owner or operator of the pool or other
bathing place.
E. Every person operating a pool or other bathing place
shall, at the frequency described below, perform or have performed
tests according to standard methods to determine that the quality
of the water in the pool is safe for human beings.
(1) Public or semipublic pools or bathing places:
(a)
Residual bactericidal-agent-content test: as
often as necessary during periods of heavy use of the pool but not
less frequently than four times daily at approximately equal intervals
during the daily period in which the pool is in use.
(b)
Determination of total bacterial count: not
less frequently than once each week during the period the pool is
in use.
(c)
Coliform bacteria determination: not less frequently
than once each week during the period in which the pool is in use.
(2) Private pools or other bathing places:
(a)
All tests shall be performed as frequently as
is required to ensure the maintenance of the pool in a condition safe
for use by human beings.
F. The standards for a bacteriologically safe water shall
be those described in the aforementioned Recommended Practice for
Design, Equipment and Operation of Swimming Pools and Other Pools
and Other Public Bathing Places, 1949 or later Edition, issued by
the American Public Health Association, and the laboratory performing
the required tests shall state that the test results do or do not
meet the required standards.
G. The time, date, results and the name and address of the person by whom performed, of all tests required by Subsection
E above, shall be recorded and such records preserved for examination by the Board for a period of 12 months from the date of performance of the test.
(1) In the event that the bacteriological test results
indicate that the water in the pool is unsuitable for use by human
beings, the pool shall be immediately closed to use and shall remain
closed until subsequent bacteriological test results indicate that
the pool is again safe for human use. On receipt of any report that
a pool is bacteriologically unsafe for use by humans, a copy of the
report will be immediately delivered to the Board, together with a
statement that the pool has been closed and will remain closed until
found to be safe for use.
H. Public and semipublic swimming pools shall be equipped
with an efficient, approved-type filtration system designed to circulate
and filter the pool water. An efficient system or apparatus shall
be used to maintain the bottom of the pool in a clean and sanitary
condition. The pool and its accessory facilities shall at all times
be kept in a state of good repair and free of defects which might
adversely affect the health of those using the pool.
I. Private pools shall be maintained in such manner and
with such equipment as will keep the water clean and free of debris
and the pool bottom clean.
J. All public and semipublic pools or other public bathing
places shall be equipped with washroom and sanitary facilities constructed
in accordance with standard practices and existing Township ordinances.
Such pools may or may not be equipped with dressing room facilities,
but when so equipped the dressing room or rooms shall be maintained
in a clean and sanitary condition.
K. No food shall be served or consumed within the limits
of any pool nor within an area of 20 feet from the sides of the pool.
Where the service and consumption of food outside of the above area
is permitted by the owner or operator of the pool, suitable containers
shall be provided for the disposal of unconsumed food, food wrappings,
containers, etc. Such disposal containers shall be such as to prevent
access to the contents by flies and other insects.
L. The areas surrounding all pools, washroom facilities,
dressing room facilities, eating areas, etc., shall at all times be
maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. At least once each day,
or oftener if required, all such areas and facilities shall be cleaned
and sprayed or otherwise treated with approved disinfecting agent
in such concentration as shall render the areas and facilities safe
for human use. When necessary, an approved extermination agency or
firm shall be employed to maintain the pool and its adjacent areas
in a rodent-free condition.
M. The discharge of water from any pool, including pool
backwash water and pool cleaning wastewater, is not permitted to be
discharged into any Township sanitary or storm sewer, street right-of-way,
stream, drainage ditch, creek, pond, waterway or onto any adjoining
property. The emptying or discharge of water from any pool shall be
carried out in such a manner as to not create either a health hazard
or nuisance to the pool owners, adjoining property owners or the Township.
[Amended 5-12-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-5]
N. No person with open lesions of the skin shall be admitted
to any pool in the Township.
O. No animals shall be permitted in any pool intended
for human use nor in or on the accessory facilities of the pool. A
conspicuous notice warning users of the pool of the prohibition against
the admission of animals shall be plainly posted at the entrance to
all public or semipublic pools or other public bathing places.
[Amended 6-12-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-10]
Any person, firm or corporation who or which
shall violate any of the rules and regulations aforesaid, shall, upon
conviction thereof, be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000,
plus costs of prosecution, and in default of payment of such fine
and costs by imprisonment for not more than 30 days. It is hereby
declared that each refusal or neglect to comply with the terms of
these rules and regulations shall be considered as a separate violation
thereof, and notice to the offender by the Board of Health or the
Township shall not be necessary in order to constitute an offense.