Swimming in appeal : A little attention keeps pools, furniture looking good as new.(Hotel swimming pools)

When guests decide to spend time relaxing in or around a property's swimming pool, dirty, cloudy water and slimy pool furniture are the last things they want to see. A daily schedule of cleaning and testing is the best way to keep the pool sparkling and furniture attractive.

The first step is to train the appropriate people adequately for the job of pool maintenance.

"What I see is that the pool seems to be a big attraction for clientele, but it's probably the single biggest headache for the hotel," said John Livingston, Warrendale, Pa.-based USFilter's sales manager for North America. "They have people trained to take care of mechanical things, such as elevators and air conditioners, but they have no concept about how to maintain a safe pool environment."

According to Brian Bokowy, technical service manager for BioLab, time is another reason why proper work isn't performed.

"Taking care of a pool can be a full-time job if it's a large pool," he said. "Even in a relatively small hotel pool, you could easily spend an hour a day taking care of just the pool. Many maintenance people don't have time to spend that hour doing the…