As the lead awarding body for swimming pool and spa plant training, STA will be at SPATEX 2014 raising awareness about the importance of pool plant management in order to protect public health from infections such as cryptosporidium – and the reputation of the industry.

Robbie Phillips, STA’s Senior Pool Plant Tutor says that SPATEX 2014 is the industry’s leading pool and spa exhibition, and so provides the ideal platform for STA to reinforce why pool plant management should be made a priority, and why it is so important for leisure operators to have properly qualified staff.

He said: “Unfortunately standards and approaches to pool water management are slipping. This is because of budget cuts and a general lack of understanding of what proper pool water management involves; however, the consequences of these lax, short-term attitudes could prove very costly for the industry.”

In response to these challenges and in line with modern-day thinking, STA will be promoting its Level 2 and Level 3 Swimming Pool and Spa Water Treatment qualifications.

They cover half-day awards in Water Testing through to 3-day Pool Plant Operators qualifications.

Uniquely, the Level 3 Pool Plant Operators course contains chapters on Spas, Interactive Play Features, Energy Conservation and Health & Safety. The syllabus also covers the special demands of hydrotherapy pools to ensure that staff responsible for the management of pools in facilities such as special schools and hospitals, where hydrotherapy pools are common, are trained to the correct standard and are able to maintain safe bathing conditions.

All the awards are supported with extensive learning materials too, including a comprehensive new manual that covers all of the new unitised courses in detail, supported with user-friendly colour images and diagrams – and acts as a useful reference document

STAadmin.co.uk, STA’s revolutionary online leisure management system, will also be on show at SPATEX 2014, which has been designed to help operators manage staff qualifications, training and safety obligations as well as monitor water treatment – the latter with a real time traffic light system.

“STA is leading the way when it comes to prioritising pool plant management operations,” explained Robbie. “The public needs absolute confidence that the industry is doing everything possible to keep pool water safe and hygienic.”