Private STA Level 3 Pool Plant Operator courses delivered at your own commercial swimming pool, anywhere in the UK.
Train your staff on the pool plant they actually operate.
The Pool Operators Club® delivers private STA Level 3 Pool Plant Operations courses for commercial swimming pools, schools, leisure centres, hotels, health clubs, swim schools, hydrotherapy pools, spas, holiday parks, waterparks and interactive water features throughout the UK.
Instead of sending your team away to learn on unfamiliar equipment, we bring the course to you. Your staff can relate the theory directly to your own filtration plant, chemical dosing equipment, controllers, water-testing equipment and day-to-day operational challenges.
The result? More relevant training, more confident operators and knowledge that can be put into practice immediately.
STA Qualification ref. 603/2579/3
Need to train several members of staff? A private course can be considerably more convenient and cost effective than sending employees to a public course, and it gives your team the added benefit of learning together on their own pool plant.
Download the STA Pool Plant Operations course brochure.
Every swimming pool plant room is different.
That's why our preferred approach is to deliver Pool Plant Operator training at the facility your staff actually operate.
During the course, we can relate the subjects being taught directly to your own filtration and chemical dosing systems, water testing equipment, operating and maintenance challenges.
Candidates therefore learn more than simply what something does. They gain a much better understanding of why it matters and how it applies to their own pool.
"Great delivery of the course. Made the subject very interesting and super helpful with any questions."
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"An excellent trainer and very professional. Thank you."
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"A very thorough, interesting and helpful course, delivered with enthusiasm and professionalism. Highly recommend."
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A public course can be perfectly suitable when you need to train one individual.
But when several members of staff share responsibility for operating the same swimming pool, private, site-specific training offers significant additional benefits.
Instead of trying to remember what an unfamiliar filter, dosing system or controller looked like after returning from a course, candidates can discuss the equipment they use every day.
A team course helps establish a consistent approach to water testing, backwashing, plant checks, chemical control, record keeping and incident response. Training several employees reduces reliance on one knowledgeable member of staff and helps create a stronger base of pool plant competence across the organisation. Benefit from all of your team gaining the same knowledge and working to the same standards.
Every pool has its quirks. Candidates can ask questions about their water-quality, filtration, chemical dosing and maintenance issues they genuinely encounter, and we actively encourage them to do so. Our aim is not simply to help candidates gain a certificate.
We want them to return to work as more capable, confident and questioning pool plant operators.
The STA Level 3 Award in Pool Plant Operations provides learners with the knowledge required to help manage and maintain swimming pools, spas, hydrotherapy pools, and interactive water features safely and effectively.
The qualification covers six principal areas.
Candidates learn about the factors that influence swimming pool water quality, including bather pollution, contamination, pool area hygiene, microbiological risks and the importance of maintaining safe, clear and comfortable bathing conditions.
We also discuss how bather behaviour, pollution loading and pool operation interact in the real world.
Candidates develop their understanding of correct pool-water sampling, testing and interpretation.
Subjects include disinfectant residuals, pH, combined chlorine and other important water-quality parameters, together with the actions operators should consider when results fall outside normal operating ranges.
A practical pool water testing assessment is included for each candidate.
Candidates explore the principles behind pool-water disinfection and chemical control, including: chlorination, pH control, combined chlorine, chemical dosing, automatic water-quality controllers, chemical calculations and safe chemical handling.
Importantly, we relate these subjects to the chemical-treatment system installed at your facility.
This part of the course explains how the principal components of a pool-water treatment system work together.
Subjects include: circulation, turnover, pumps, strainers, surface-water removal, balance tanks, valves, filters, filtration rates, pressure gauges, flow measurement, backwashing, coagulation and the safe operation of pool plant.
Candidates can then relate this theory directly to the layout and operation of their own plant room.
Swimming pools are highly energy-intensive buildings.
Candidates learn about the relationship between pool-water temperature, pool-hall air temperature, humidity, evaporation, ventilation and energy use, together with practical opportunities to operate pool plant more efficiently.
Good pool operation requires more than good water chemistry management.
Candidates consider the management systems needed to support safe pool operation, including risk assessment, chemical safety, PPE, plant maintenance, record keeping, Pool Safety Operating Procedures and the responsibilities associated with operating commercial pool plant.
The Level 3 qualification is intended for people with responsibility for the operation and management of commercial swimming pool or wet-leisure plant.
It is particularly appropriate for:
Pool plant trainees
Pool and leisure centre managers
Duty managers
Facilities and estates staff
Maintenance engineers
School pool caretakers and site managers
Swim school owners and operators
Hotel and health-club maintenance staff
Hydrotherapy pool operators
Spa operators
Holiday park pool staff
Waterpark operators
Employees supervising routine pool-water testing
Not everyone on your team necessarily requires the full Level 3 qualification. If employees only carry out routine pool-water testing, our STA Level 2 Swimming Pool Water Testing course may be more appropriate.
For staff who need a broader understanding of pool-water treatment but do not have full responsibility for the plant, the STA Level 2 Swimming Pool Water Treatment qualification can provide an excellent foundation.
STA Pool Plant Tutor | Commercial Pool Water Treatment Consultant
Andrew has over 40 years' experience in the commercial swimming pool water-treatment industry, specialising in pool-water treatment engineering, filtration, chemical dosing and control.
Andrew is an experienced STA Pool Plant Tutor. He has trained hundreds of contractors and pool operators and has delivered technical training and presentations in the UK and overseas.
Andrew is the founder of Andrew Gaffey Ltd and a member of the Institute of Swimming Pool Engineers, the Water Management Society, PWTAG, and the Swimming Teachers Association.
Senior STA Pool Plant Tutor & Tutor Trainer | Commercial Pool Consultant
Martyn has more than 40 years' experience within the leisure industry, including extensive local-authority management experience and senior operational responsibility within the private swimming sector.
He is a highly experienced Senior Pool Plant Tutor and Tutor Trainer with STA and brings extensive practical knowledge of pool management, training, operations and compliance.
Martyn is the founder of Pool Oracle and is a member of the Institute of Swimming Pool Engineers, and a technical member of IoSH.
The Pool Operators Club® works in partnership with STA to support the professional development of pool plant operators.
That relationship reflects our shared aim of improving knowledge, competence and operating standards throughout the pool industry.
Read STA's announcement about its partnership with The Pool Operators Club®.
No. We have trained individual staff and groups of up to 12. We recommend a maximum of 12 to ensure a quality learning experience for each candidate.
The candidate assessment includes a practical water test, normally during the first day of the course, and, at the end of the course, an 80-question multiple-choice exam with 95 minutes allowed for completion.
Our course tutors each have over 40 years of front-line experience in the commercial swimming pool sector, and many years of experience in training delivery in the UK and abroad. A quality learning experience is assured!
We cost each course individually, based on our tutor day rates, the number of candidate registrations, travel time, and any overnight expenses as may be required. Private courses can often be more cost-effective than sending several of your staff to a public course at another venue, but offer much better training value! We will be pleased to provide you with a no-obligation quote for your course.
Don't worry! If you fail to reach the required mark in any of the six modules, you'll only need to resit the module/s you have failed. Your tutor will provide you with personal support to prepare you for your re-sit within an appropriate time-frame, with the module re-sit being completed on-line, or in-person with your tutor.
We deliver courses and other bespoke training anywhere in the UK, and sometimes much further afield!