Sunday, March 30, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
The sign at the entrance to a private pool read: "Family _ool."
Below it, in smaller lettering, was this explanation: "You will notice there is no 'P' in our '_ool.' Please keep it that way."
While that may be a key concern to owners of Southern Nevada's 35,000 residential pools, operators and inspectors of the 3,500 public and commercial pools in the valley have far greater concerns when it comes to providing safe, clean facilities.
Health officials, pool service technicians and apartment association directors, preparing for a busy pool-opening season as summer approaches, say the work done with health and safety of local pools is generally adequate.
However, at least one local environmental group questions whether more needs to be done to protect the swimming public.
Each year, six full-time Clark County Health District inspectors spend the spring and summer months visiting commercial pools, making sure health and safety codes are being followed. Each fall and winter, six part-time inspectors make the rounds for the pools that stay open year-round.
"We have been talking about getting additional staff for this," said Felix Havis, supervisor of the health district's environmental health division, which oversees the pool and spa inspectors.
"Each year, it is a pretty challenging task to get in that first inspection of the season, especially in the spring when so many operators want to open pools around the same time. We would need a staff of 20 to check every pool on a monthly basis."
State law does not require monthly inspections of commercial or public pools -- just one annually. If the pool passes what generally amounts to a 45-minute inspection, it can stay open for the year.
Inspectors also will respond to check out specific health and safety complaints, and will shut down pools for new-found violations.
That, however, is not enough, says Mike Margucci, director of Living in Harmony With Nature, a local environmental group.
"There are dirty pools all over town," Margucci said. "We did a random check of three pools one day and found that gates were unlocked and the pools and spas were dirty."
Margucci said he believes the health district is underfunded and can't keep up with the huge workload.
"Someone will get ill because of a dirty pool, and then the fur will fly," he said."
Margucci recommends the district designate pool police and issue fines -- the payment of which, he says, could offset the cost of the program and ensure clean and safe pools for the public.
Havis said his employees do not have police powers "and that (fines) are not an area we want to get into."
"The threat of closing the pool is enough incentive for both the pool operator and the pool technician," Havis said. "By suspending the permit and closing the pool, it is not profitable for the technician and it puts pressure on the owner, who has to listen to complaints from angry tenants."
Also, Havis said if there were a fine process, it could end up costing the health district more than it would generate.
"It simply would not be profitable -- especially if it goes to court," Havis said. "We would wind up spending more than $1,000 of taxpayer money to litigate a case and possibly collect a maximum $1,000 fine.
"That would be a waste of time and money, and present a risk to the public if the operator gets an injunction and remains in operation while he fights the fine in court."
Kathy Miller, executive director of the Nevada Apartment Association, which represents 450 Southern Nevada complexes and 65,000 units -- more than half the area apartments -- said pools really play a small role in people's selection of a place to rent.
In fact, she said, only one of 10 prospective apartment renters even mentions a pool as a priority.
"Even though they are small in number, they (pool users) are vocal and can cause a lot of headaches for managers when the pool gets shut down by the health district," Miller said. "Shutting down the pool is enough of a penalty without the additional burden of a fine."
For the most part, she says, apartment pools in the valley are clean, but, as in any industry, there are those who violate the rules.
Havis and Miller noted that the reason for a great number of pool closures is not cleanliness problems, but improperly closing or defective self-latching gates.
And Miller notes that the very people the laws are meant to protect sometimes cause the problems with pools.
"You have children hanging on the gates, older kids pouring beer into the pool and other types of damage being done that managers might not quickly discover," Miller said. "All it takes is for the inspector to show up on a day when that happens, and the pool gets closed."
Laurie Beecher, a certified pool technician who owns LuLu's pool cleaning service and is head of the local Independent Pool & Spa Association, says there is a lot more to cleaning pools than running a skimmer over the surface.
"Some people think all we do is put on a pair of sunglasses and walk around looking at babes by the pool," she said. "But there is a lot more to it to meet health district standards of dealing with structural and electrical integrity and other issues."
Members of Beecher's organization attend regular seminars on issues such as the use of pool chemicals. And each member has obtained certification from the county, which includes passing a test of their knowledge of state regulations. It costs $38 to take the test and earn certification.
"Pool owners should hire only certified technicians who are licensed and insured," Beecher said "My good work is my signature on a pool.
"There are a lot of (unlicensed) people out there who will do the job cheaply. But you get what you pay for, and you have no recourse if the job is done wrong and the health district closes down the pool."
Beecher says a certified pool technician charges about $25 an hour, and makes about three visits a week -- sometimes more, depending on the size of the pool and the level of maintenance it requires.
So, just what does make a pool dirty?
Many people, including Margucci, believe that urine is a major problem in public pools. In reality, it is not a priority health concern.
"There is no question that aesthetically, urine is not desirable and that our culture frowns on people peeing in a pool, but to the health district, it does not pose the potential of serious health problems that defecation causes," Havis said.
"There is such a concern in this area that small children in diapers are not allowed in many pools throughout the county."
Havis also noted that "the dilution factor of six or eight ounces of urine to 100,000 gallons of properly treated pool water makes it insignificant."
Also, bacteria has not been a major problem in Southern Nevada pools, Havis said.
Algae, the slimy substance that grows on the pool walls, is a concern because of its unsightliness. Algae is present anytime there is a mixture of water and sunlight.
However, Havis noted that the presence of large amounts of algae can cause an inspector to close a pool "because it is evidence of improper maintenance."
As for diseases, Havis noted that there is concern about the spread of AIDS, but there is no evidence that a person with the fatal disease has ever passed it on through pool water, even if he has bled into it.
"It all comes back to proper maintenance to prevent problems before they can develop," Havis said.
For complaints about public pools, call the health district at 383-1266 from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays.
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