[Hygienic quality of the water of public swimming pools--comments on a current German ordinance draft].

In April 2002, a new draft regarding the quality of the water of public swimming pools in Germany was published. This draft was adapted to the new regulations for drinking water in respect of its structure and regulations. Microbiological tests for assessing the quality of bathing water are given priority. With regard to basic differences in facilities for drinking water and such for bath water and to legal aspects, many data (n = 14,425 data) on the practical experience of public health authorities are presented, obtained during the last few years. With regard to the data and in respect of the great delay between sampling and obtaining the results it is concluded that microbiological methods are inappropriate parameters for rapid assessment of the quality of bath water. Hence it is recommended to implement the evaluation of disinfection by chlorination including pH as an indicator for the quality of a bath water, parallel to the guidelines on technical standards. A high frequency of chlorination testing can markedly reduce the number of microbiological tests. Additionally, microbiological tests of the filtrate before disinfection by chlorination are recommended. This procedure has proved successful in legionella control.