The National Environment Agency (NEA) licenses all public swimming pools in Singapore, which include pools located within Sport Singapore complexes, condominiums, hotels, clubs, institutions of education, etc.

Quality of water in public swimming pools

The licensees of the public pools are required to comply with the requirements stipulated in the Environmental Public Health (Swimming Pools) Regulations. Licensees are also required to maintain the cleanliness of the pool and ensure that the pool water quality complies with the standards stipulated in the Regulations. In addition, they must arrange for the swimming pool water to be analysed by accredited laboratories for chemical and bacteriological quality, at least once a month and subsequently submit the water quality test results to NEA.

NEA’s Code of Practice on Environmental Health

Under Section 7 of the Code of Practice on Environmental Health (COPEH), there is a set of design criteria stipulated for swimming pools from the perspective of public health. Qualified Personnel (QPs) are required to comply with these design criteria when submitting their building plans to the NEA for approval.

Appendix 7 of the COPEH also provides a set of suggested guidelines on safety features in swimming pool design and landscaping for QPs’ consideration when designing pool facilities and surrounding landscaping.

Singapore Standard 556 or SS 556

The SS 556 represents a standard of good practice for the design and construction, installation of equipment, operation, maintenance and management of aquatic facilities in Singapore.

Under the SS 556, aquatic facilities are defined as man-made bodies of water used for sport, recreation or therapeutic water activities. They are classified into various categories such as swimming pools, leisure pools, wave pools, wading pools, water slides, spa pools, hydrotherapy/physiotherapy pools, water playgrounds, etc. Please visit SPRING Singapore’s website for more information on the SS 556.

Guidelines on swimming pools

Other guidelines which are related to swimming pools can be found below.

1. Guidelines on Use of Chlorine-containing Chemicals for Disinfection of Swimming Pools (jointly issued by NEA, MOM, SCDF and SPF)