City faces new regulations for spraygrounds
CHRISTOPHER DIAKOPOULOS
The Saratogian
SARATOGA SPRINGS - The Department of Public Works is working to get the city's four "spraygrounds" open for play this year, despite new regulations from the New York State Department of Health requiring an additional water treatment system.
New regulations from the state Department of Health forced the city to close its four wading pools last year and renovate them as spray fountains. But with the outbreak of the bacteria cryptosporidium last summer at Seneca Lake State Park that resulted in more than 1,800 illnesses, the DOH changed the regulations again to include ultraviolet water treatment in addition to the chlorine system the city installed last year.
"We're trying to get ready for our opening and to meet the state standard," said WilliamMcTygue, director of Public Works. "We're not prepared to put in a separate UV disinfection system, but we are modifying our system to spray fresh water."
McTygue said the changes will bypass the chlorination system put in last year at the city's four parks at the West Side Rec fields, East Side Rec fields, South Side Rec and Geyser play area.
"It will be fresh water off the city system," McTygue said. "The DOH said that because we were recirculating the water, we couldn't do it without the UV and they didn't want to bend their new rule."
Assistant City Engineer Debbie LaBreche said the city required the bidder for the job last year, Concord Pools, to design the system to easily accept these changes in the future.
"We had input from DOH and we made sure we kept them abreast of what we were doing last year," LaBreche said. "We required Concord Pools to address DOH's suggestions, so when the regulations changes, this wasn't a big surprise."
Since the new design will be spraying fresh water off the city system, and then draining it to a waste pipe, the designs will use more water compared to the previous chlorination/recirculation system (similar to a swimming pool's system), but LaBreche said the replacement of some of the nozzles at the parks will keep the water use down.
"As long as we don't have any water restrictions, this will work," McTygue said.
According to the national Center for Disease Control, Cryptosporidium is a very common cause of waterborne disease. The intestinal illness caused by the bacterium, Cryptosporidiosis, carries symptoms including diarrhea, abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever, and headache. Until last year, New York had between 400 and 500 cases reported annually, according to the Department of Health.
