Devola Pool manager Karl Schmidt said his pool has hardly had any health department violations this summer, and that has to do with the people who use it.
"I'm on a first-name basis with almost everyone who comes in," Schmidt said. "It's a very family-oriented crowd; the people we get are mostly children and parents.
"That makes it easier, then if there is a problem because it's easier to talk to someone you know," he said.
So far this summer, the public pools in Marietta and Washington County have passed their inspections without any major problems.
"I've been very impressed with how the pools in the county have been kept up," said Josh Lane, a registered sanitarian with the Washington County Health Department.
Lane is one of two people who inspect pools for the health department. The department covers public pools at Beverly-Waterford, New Matamoras, Lowell and Devola, as well as pools at the Landings campground in Reno, the Lakeside Hotel in Beverly and Hervida 4-H Camp in Waterford.
Lane said the health department's goal is to inspect the pools at least every two weeks. They have been able to keep to that schedule this summer with very few exceptions.
"So far, all pools have been operating as we would expect them," he said. "Ninety percent of them had zero violations, and the few violations that we have found have been minor."
Such small problems include sand crystals getting stuck in the filters of sand-filter pools, Lane said.
Kelly Miller, a registered sanitarian with the Marietta City Health Department, said they inspect the pools within the city limits at least once a month. Four pools in Marietta are in hotels; the rest are at the Marietta Family YMCA, the Betsey Mills Club, the Marietta Country Club, Ewing School, Putnam Place apartments and the Marietta Aquatic Center.
"They all do really well," Miller said. "We test the water chemical levels, we check their safety items, make sure they have ring buoys, spine boards and a first aid kit."
Lane said inspectors also check the chlorine levels of all public pools, as well as their pH levels, to make sure they are not too basic or acidic.
"We really haven't had any chemical problems," Lane said. "All pools have been working the way they are supposed to in regard to chemical levels."
On many of the inspection reports from the city health department, the chemical levels of the pools are slightly off what they could be.
Miller said that if the levels are too far off, algae might start growing in the pool, although they've never seen that happen.
"Pools are required to test their chemical levels every four hours," Lane said. "All public pools are required to have a DTD test kit. The chemicals of a pool can change very quickly; you never know when you're running out of chlorine."
Mike Bishman, director of the YMCA, Belpre City and Marietta Aquatic Center pools, said an equation lets personnel know when chemicals need to be added to the pool.
"If the pH is too low, we can put in something called soda ash to bring the pH up," he said. "If it's too high, we can put in muranic acid to bring it down.
"We keep a pretty tight ship chemical-wise," Bishman said.
Bishman said there are three things that could be wrong if the flow meter is not working - there could be an air bubble in the meter that would need to be removed, the filters may need to be backwashed or the main valve might need to be moved a little higher.
In its most recent inspection, the pool at the Econo Lodge on Pike Street in Marietta did not have a lifeguard on duty.
A manager at the Econo Lodge said they have a sign which says there is no lifeguard on duty, but they had not posted it when they were last inspected.
