Before you dive in this Memorial Day weekend, check your neighborhood pool for health and safety violations.
An ABC15 analysis of 2016 Maricopa County pool inspection data found one in every 20 pools failed its most recent check.
ABC15 identified 3,488 pools which were inspected at least once from January 1 to May 17, 2016. Of those pools, 167 failed to be approved for operation on their most recent inspection. The most common violations leading to pool closures are broken gates and low chlorine levels.
"A lot of the same diseases and illnesses caused by food poisoning are rampant in water," pool inspector Andrea Blestrud said.
Check out ABC15's interactive map of pools not approved to operate due to a health/safety violations or other issue. Violation and pool status data reflects most recent inspection from Maricopa County Environmental Services. Violations may have been corrected since inspection date.
Maricopa County Environmental Services sends inspectors to check 9,000 public and semi-public pools permitted to operate in the county.
There are less than 200 public pools, frequently operated by city governments, and they are supposed to be inspected every month of operation. The rest of the pools are semi-public pools. They often exist at hotels or resorts, apartment complexes, and HOA community centers. Those pools are inspected twice a year.
Pool inspectors accept citizen complaints.
Sometimes repeat violators have problems that can be disgusting.
ABC15 found several murky and green pools from Mesa to North Phoenix.
When inspectors discover pools that fail to meet health and safety standards, they post a red suspension notices to warn the public.
Pool operators have an opportunity to correct violations and get pools re-inspected and reopened.
