Being on both sides of the coin, so to speak, in aquatics I can tell you why community pools remain too cold for us AS'ers. I was the Aquatics director for years at a local YMCA in our area. There are so many programs running in our community pools and Arthritis programs are a small part in comparrison to the whole pool usage, income and expences, it all comes down to dollars and cents. The Arthritis Foundation, which most community pools use their guidelines, calls for water temps to be between 81 and 90. It all comes down to general public comfort. Most community pools will keep their water temps around 81-83 that way they are within AF guidelines and comfort for the rest of their programs. Regular water aerobics and swim team require cooler water. Since open swims, water aerobics, swim lesson, and swim teams are the main income these pools have an excuse to cut costs when it comes to water temp. Majority rules and they pinch pennies. The cost to run a 188,000 gal pool is huge and every degree they can cut is thousands of dollars a year. The problem is anything under 88 is too cold for most Arthritis programs. It's beurocracy in action.
Cindy
