Dear FSPA member,

What a long month March has been so far. Please know that FSPA is working to ensure that your business can continue in the coming weeks and perhaps, months.

The government affairs team, which includes staff in Sarasota and lobbyists in Tallahassee, are in constant communication with state and local department of health members and the governor’s office. We have requested that pool maintenance be stated as “essential to public health”. The Broward DOH has stated this, and the Miami-Dade local state of emergency order includes pool service, construction and distributors as essential businesses which may remain open.

We encourage you to share the information provided in our e-newsletters this week (and our website) with your local health and building department officials. Ask them if they will make a similar statement for your community – that pool maintenance is essential to public health.

Please educate your residential customers about the importance of a properly balanced pool. With more people home and beaches closing, pools are being used more than usual. Make sure homeowners know to keep an eye on their chlorine levels and how to maintain it between visits by a pool professional. In addition, with kids out of school and parents working from home there is an increased risk of unsupervised pool use. Remind your customers that when children are swimming someone must be designated as a “water watcher” to prevent accidents. Here is a link to the safety page of our website.

FSPA has sent information to media throughout Florida about proper pool maintenance and will continue to share this information next week. We will also be focusing on the importance of supervision around pools. 

As we get statements from local or state authorities about pools it will be shared with you and posted on our website. Please let me know if you have any questions, share what you are hearing locally and keep FSPA informed of how this is affecting you. A survey was sent to members yesterday and we will continue to send this to members over the next few weeks so we can gauge the impact on our industry over time.

Regarding the FSPA office, we will remain open as much as possible to serve members. Please be patient if you call, as some calls are being transferred out of the office to staff working remotely.   Most state and chapter events scheduled for the next six weeks have been postponed or canceled. We will do our best to keep the website calendar as accurate as possible.

Thank you for being a member of the Florida Swimming Pool Association. Stay healthy and keep working – pools are essential to public health!