Aquatic Facilities Water Spray/Play Ground Application, Design & Operating Requirements Environmental Health Guide

Transcription

1 Aquatic Facilities Water Spray/Play Ground Application, Design & Operating Requirements Environmental Health Guide Water Play/Spray Grounds are aquatic facilities where patrons (primarily children) become wetted from interaction and exposure to water spray/play ground features, including: slides, sprays, tippers, fountains, jets or other such features and where the expelled water is drained, collected and treated for reuse back into the water spray/play ground. All aquatic facilities (including water spray/play grounds) must, under the Health (Aquatic Facilities) Regulations 2007, be issued regulatory approval from the Executive Director, Public Health before being constructed and before opening for use. Design, construction and operation requirements of aquatic facilities are contained within the Code of Practice for the Design, Construction, Operation, Management and Maintenance of Aquatic Facilities (the Code). Detailed spray/play ground design, construction and operating requirements are however not yet clearly contained within the Code and this Environmental Health Guide is therefore intended as an interim instruction to provide developers, local governments and aquatic facility designers/builders guidance on the requirements for making application to construct and subsequent use of water spray/play grounds. *** Currently no Australian national or state standard exists specifically for the design, construction and operation of Water Spray/Play Grounds. This Environmental Health Guide has therefore been compiled based primarily on those requirements already recommended by several authorities within North America, with change and modification to suit our local conditions and by limited consultation with aquatic facility designers. Consequently, all comments or suggested changes that might help us improve on this document are hereby requested and welcomed. These can be provided by to the Department of Health at 1.1 APPLICATION FOR CONSTRUCTION APPROVAL All applications for construction of an aquatic facility must be made with a completed application form and contain the required covering letter, schematic, site and other plans with specifications, as detailed on the form cover sheet The application covering letter needs to provide confirmation of the specific proposal s compliance and be accompanied by copies of all certifications and other necessary documentations detailed under the relevant sections and subsections contained within Sections of this Environmental Health Guide Where a water spray/play ground proposal is associated with (or incorporates) a swimming pool, spa or waterslide the covering letter must also include confirmation of compliance with the relevant sections of the Code not specifically covered within this Environmental Health Guide Applications for approval to construct a water spray/play ground must be accompanied by written certification from an acceptably qualified aquatics designer confirming how the proposed hydraulic design satisfies the requirements of this Environmental Health Guide.

2 1.2 WATER SPRAY/PLAY GROUND LOCATION & AMENITY Application covering letters should confirm that due consideration has been given (by the applicant) for the intended location and potential impacts on the water spray/play ground, patron amenity/health/safety & the operating/maintenance costs, from surrounding land uses, topographical characteristics and likely climatic factors (For example: nearby water bird habitats, windblown organic material/sand/dust, noise, air pollutants/odours, storm water runoff & insect pests) Application covering letters should confirm that due consideration (by the applicant) has been given for the need to fence or provide other contingencies against animal access causing contamination to the spray pad and to prevent potential hazards in the event of unauthorized access when the facility is not open for use Water spray/play ground users need access to sanitary facilities. Numbers required are calculated based on the maximum patron number of 1 person per 2.3m 2 of spray pad surface area and Section 2.20 of the Code. Where a proposal is a stand alone water spray/play ground shower and change room facilities are not mandatory Water spray/play grounds shall be provided with potable drinking water fountains. 1.3 STRUCTURAL DESIGN Applications must confirm the proposed water spray/play ground has been engineer designed to withstand all forces imposed by the design of the facility and its anticipated use. 1.4 PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT & MATERIALS Playground equipment for use in water spray/play grounds must comply with the requirements of AS Playground Equipment - Part 1: General safety requirements and test methods. Applicants must ensure manufacturers of chosen playground equipment have supplied them with written certification confirming the chosen playground equipment complies fully with AS4685.1, and have supplied them the necessary product information as detailed in Section 3 of AS Copies of these manufacturer documentations must be attached with the application and applicants must provide written undertaking to adhere to all product manufacturers instruction recommendations regarding construction, operation, supervision and maintenance requirements Code Section 2.4 all materials used to comply with Where elevated interactive features exist with a likely fall height exceeding 50cm the active floor surface surround shall incorporate impact attenuation in accordance with the playground equipment manufacturer instruction. 1.5 SPRAY GROUND SURFACES Code Appendix 6 all spray pads, concourse and walkway surfaces to have category B compliant slip resistant surfaces which are water impervious, smooth and free of any features or undulations that may cause a trip hazard or other injury The spray pad area surrounding water features shall be graded towards drainage outlets to prevent any surface water accumulation.

3 1.5.3 Where a concourse is provided around a spray pad, it shall be adequately drained to prevent surface water accumulation Where a spray ground has more than one spray pad area these shall be linked by walkways with surfaces that minimize the transfer of soil/grass and other material onto spray pads All garden areas located within spray grounds shall be designed to prevent soil movement onto walkways, concourse and spray pad surfaces In locations where patrons will likely carry sand or other debris on their feet, foot showers shall be provided to rinse feet before entering spray pad. Wastewater from foot showers shall be discharged to waste. The use of foot baths is prohibited Areas surrounding the spray pad and associated concourse/walkways should be maintained to minimize ingress of soil, grass and other material onto the spray pads. 1.6 WATER CIRCULATION AND TREATMENT SYSTEMS The design, size, number and location of spray pad drainage outlets shall ensure: complete surface drainage, outlets may be readily cleaned and will not cause entrapment hazards to patrons Water flow through drains from the spray pad shall only be under gravity. Direct suction outlets from the spray pad are prohibited The design of spray pad, drainage diversion and return drainage plumbing system shall be graded and designed so all water will be drained from the system and at no time contain trapped water The spray pad drainage and return plumbing system design shall incorporate appropriate means to remove sand or other likely material from return water enroute to the treatment system (eg. use of sand/lint traps, screens etc) Spray pad drainage systems are to incorporate a means to divert all spray pad water for discharge to waste All top-up water must be filtered and treated before it may be used/reused to spray pad features Code Sections 3.3, 3.4 filtration/treatment systems must comply with all relevant requirements Filtration/treatment systems must achieve complete water system turnover at least once every 30minutes Water treatment system and tank design must ensure 100% of water for spray ground use has undergone a minimum 7.5 minute contact 2ppm free chlorine concentration at required ph level before use; and ensure water will on discharge satisfy the minimum chemical and microbiological water standards prescribed in Sections 5.1 & 5.3 of the Code Unmanned spray parks should incorporate automatic or remote shutdown arrangements in the event required water chemistry levels is not being achieved or when electrical storm activity is imminent.

4 Where separate spray feature and water filtration/treatment pumps are used, spray feature pumps must be locked into the filtration/treatment pumps so they will not operate when filtration /treatment pump is not operating Where separate spray feature and water filtration/treatment pumps are used, the ratio of the flow rate of water supplied to the spray features directly from the treatment tank must not exceed 3 times the filtration/treatment system flow rate System operating water volumes/levels shall be maintained continuously by automatic top-up control and overflow systems. 1.7 SAFETY All spray ground water collection/storage/treatment tanks shall have entry and exit access openings for cleaning and be of adequate size to permit rescue of all persons who may enter. Such openings shall when not within secured plant rooms be lockable requiring special tools to open All spray ground tanks, plant and equipment must be secured against any unauthorized access Spray features should be designed and installed so as not to pose a tripping hazard, a hazard due to water velocity, or other possible safety hazards The operating pressure of water spray/play ground features must be controlled so that excessive pressures can not injure users. Water circuits must have pressure relief valves to prevent excessive pressure caused by blocked or restricted outlets Code s Section 2.25 requires water spray/play grounds to have Spray Park Rules located in a prominent position of view to users Water spray/play grounds shall have at least one sign WARNING RECYCLED WATER IN USE - DO NOT DRINK. That sign shall have minimum lettering size of 100mm and be located in a prominent position of view to all users Outdoor water spray/play grounds shall be closed to use during electrical storm periods because of potential lighting strike risk. 1.8 SPRAY PAD SURFACE CLEANING Water spray/play ground pads shall have hose connections of sufficient number provided in close proximity to allow spray pad wash down and rinsing as required. Soiled wash/rinse water shall be diverted to waste. 1.9 WASTE WATER Waste water and storm water must be disposed of in a manner approved by the responsible authority. Storm water systems need make provision for likely rainfall events relative to the spray pad surface area.

5 1.10 OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS Code Sections 5, 6 & 7 relate to water chemistry, qualifications and general sanitation/operational requirements depending on the aquatic facility classification. Water spray/play grounds shall (when they are part of an aquatic facility containing pools, spas or waterslides) take on the same Classification as the remainder of the aquatic facility and to comply with the Code operating requirements for that particular Class of facility. When they are stand alone aquatic facilities without pools, spas or waterslides they shall then be deemed a Class 4 aquatic facility In addition to the Code s Section 5.4 prescribed manual water chemistry testing frequency water spray/play grounds shall be tested at least one additional time daily, so as to occur before being opened for use Filtration and treatment equipment shall as a minimum be kept operating/circulating at all times a water spray/play grounds is open for use and it shall commence operating a minimum of 2 hours before the first use and continue operating 2 hours after the last use Section 5.4 of the Code requires that an approved manual water chemistry test kit must be provided and stored onsite at all times for daily water chemistry testing Section 7.8 of the Code requires all aquatic facilities to have an Operations Manual Spray ground water treatment tanks shall regularly be drained and cleaned at a frequency necessary to maintain water quality FINAL APPROVAL FOR USE Final approval is issued by the Executive Director, Public Health and is dependant on a final inspection of the finished works being undertaken against the approved plans, specifications and any required conditions of construction approval. Additionally before the facility may open confirmation that adequate arrangements are in place for correct operation and on the local government s microbiological water sampling confirming satisfactory water quality.