does your LDS clean its rental gear?

Might seem like a silly question to some but this is something I remember from my OW.

During our pool sessions I had asked my instructor why she doesn't disenfect the mouth peices from the BC's and regs after a student uses them (even masks and snorkles for the scuba experience classes). She replied that the chlorine in the pool would be sufficient to clean the equipment for the next user - this seemed reasonable to me but I still had some reservations. We of course rinsed all the gear well to rid it of the chlorinated water. Also there was no cleaning process other then a fresh water rinse following open water dives (no chlorination in the lakes!)

So, I'm wondering if this is normal practice for your LDS?

Do you think that chlorinated water is enough to kill the germs left by another diver?

I can personally attest to the fact that our LDS cleans rental gear because I'm one of the guys who does it.

After pool session, regs are hit with cleaner and rinsed. BC's are rinsed using the pool's hose.

After OW sessions, we clean our personal gear first. Next, all rental gear is rinsed, dunked in cleaner and left to dry. Beer follows

The only variation is that we allow the students to take their neoprene home on Saturday. We instruct them to clean it themselves. Whether they do is their business; however, we handle it on Sunday. That way, no student gets dirty neoprene.

I would guess that the chlorine is sufficient to kill germs so long as the reg is immersed in the chlorine as the last thing that happens to it. However, what happens if the diver breathes from the reg after surfacing and never immerses the mouthpiece again.

Northeastwrecks once bubbled...

After OW sessions, we clean our personal gear first. Next, all rental gear is rinsed, dunked in cleaner and left to dry. Beer follows

Click to expand...

I am seeing a lfaw in the order of priority here.....

Anyway...as for reg rinsing...putting a few splashes of bleach in a 5 gallon bucket then a second thugough clean rinse should kills just about any germs you have on a reg...at least that's what we do with the school equipment.

Big-t-2538 once bubbled...


I am seeing a lfaw in the order of priority here.....

Click to expand...

Yes. Beer first!

The LDS I am familiar with all students are required to have their own mouth pieces, mask, snorkel and fins.

The do clean the regulators after each pool session and OW with bleach water.

The chlorine levels for public pools is regulated by the Department of Health. It is more than sufficent to kill the germs.

The LDS that I work at I doubt cleans them. I can not say for sure what they do during the week, there is not cleaning on the weekends when I am there. The instructors due very little in the way of making sure the student does anything. The are rinsied after the pool . After every pool session an OW session, I spend the better part of an hour getting all the water out of the BC.
I would think that the cholrine should kill most of the germs on the equipment. I can not say for sure but it seems to make sense. Kind of a good point that I did not think about. I will check to see if my shop is doing that. Dive season in Ohio is short so maybe they clean them after the season is over.

Our shop requires students to buy a mouthpiece with a re-usable zip-tie. They are responsible for taking it off the rental reg at the end of each pool session, and putting it on the next time. (of course we check that it's secure)

The octo's only get whatever cleaning they get from the pool water.

This seems to keep everyone happy.

I haven't really seen anyone very worried about germs (or worse)

MikeFerrara once bubbled...


Yes. Beer first!

Click to expand...

Mike, if you gave the staff the beer first, would they stay around and clean the gear???

After all, we don't get paid for this.

Just kidding.

Ok, some basic facts on pools and chlorine levels.

First, to DISINFECT a surface, you need at least 8ppm of FREE Chlorine, and some exposure time. More is ok, but less is not - it will NOT kill the beasties on a surface. The usual "disinfecting" solution prescription for surfaces is typically between 20-100 ppm of chlorine, which is really quite a bit - too much for fabrics and such, at least if you like the color they have in them Why more? Becuase it requires less contact time; 100 ppm requires almost no contact time at all for disinfecting purposes.

The usual free chlorine level in a pool is between 0.5 and 5 ppm. Less than 0.5ppm is UNSAFE. More than 5ppm and suits bleach, blond hair turns green, etc. Health department standards for a public pool are in this range. Most public pools will run between 1-2 ppm of free chlorine if they are well-maintained, and total chlorine (free + combined) will not be allowed to rise over 5 ppm.

(Contrary to popular belief, it is not the chlorine that makes your eyes sting and irritates your skin. That's a combination of pH - usually too darn low - AND what are known as chloramines, which are the compounds chlorine forms as it kills the beasties. "Shocking" a pool destroys the chloramines and also takes care of any "overload" microbial and algae growth, which is why its done. Excessive combined chlorine also makes the water cloudy, and inhibits the action of free chlorine in sanitization - thus, the need for shocking.)

Now why is 0.5ppm - 5 ppm ok in poll WATER, but not good enough for disinfecting? Because water is not a surface. Its an aqueous solution, and the beasties are widely dispersed. As such the concentration of molecules of chlorine ion necessary to maintain biological safety is reasonably low.

(BTW, a spa - hottub - should be between 5-10 ppm of chlorine to be biologically safe. Why? Less water volume, more beastie load per ml of water, AND the water is hotter. Higher temps mean microbes grow more quickly.)

So, bluntly, the chlorine in a pool will NOT disinfect a scuba reg's mouthpiece, even if you dunk it as the last thing you do.

Better (actually useful) is a solution made of one gallon of water and two teaspoons of household bleach (one teaspoon if you use pool liquid chlorine, which is the same stuff but double-strength - 10% as opposed to 5%.) A dunk for a few seconds and then a THOROUGH rinse in fresh water to get the chlorine out of the reg will effectively and safely sanitize the surfaces. Just make very sure you rinse WELL with fresh water.

Northeastwrecks once bubbled...

Mike, if you gave the staff the beer first, would they stay around and clean the gear???

After all, we don't get paid for this.

Click to expand...

That may be....but if I have beer, it might take me a few extra minutes, but I am going to enjoy (well moreso than withouth the beer) cleaning the equipment as opposed to rushing through it and not getting it done properly.

See...beer good....


And genesis....for once...I actually agree with everything in your post.....wow.....:wacko: