The water sparkled invitingly in the Caribbean Resort and Villas' swimming pool on what began as another perfect day in Myrtle Beach. Guests lounged poolside while children splashed in the pristine water. No one – not the guests, not the staff, not even management – could see the invisible danger lurking beneath the crystal-clear surface.

That day in 2021 would change everything for Brittain Properties, the prestigious management firm overseeing the luxury resort. A three-year-old guest entered the pool for what should have been a moment of vacation joy. Instead, the child emerged with severe chemical burns, leading to a nightmare scenario that would eventually cost the company $26 million in legal settlements and irreparable damage to their reputation.

The Brittain Properties incident highlights a dangerous truth that haunts the property management industry: crystal clear water can be deceptively hazardous. Every year, hundreds of hotels and commercial properties quietly settle lawsuits related to pool-related injuries and illnesses, their stories buried beneath non-disclosure agreements and legal settlements.

The root problem lies not in negligence but in outdated practices and technology that have persisted for nearly a century. Property managers delegate pool maintenance to certified staff or contractors, trusting in their expertise and the apparent clarity of the water. This trust, while understandable, builds on two fundamental misconceptions: that clear water equals safe water, and that maintenance staff have adequate tools to do their job well. Neither is true.

In fact, the reality is far more complex. Water chemistry fluctuates constantly, affected by countless variables including swimmer load, temperature, sunlight, and environmental factors. Health professionals refer to hot tubs as ‘bacteria baths’ for good reason. Most worrisome, as the Center for Disease Control reports, indoor pools/hot tubs are particularly susceptible to health problems. Noting that in enclosed environments, unless strongly ventilated, imbalanced water chemistry produces chloramines that irritate skin, eyes, and the respiratory tract. Worse, low-chlorine conditions allow bacterial levels to multiply, becoming a breeding ground for Legionnaires disease.

The human eye cannot detect caustic chemical conditions, making visual inspection worthless as a safety measure. Traditional manual testing, performed sporadically, leaves dangerous gaps where conditions can deteriorate rapidly, and often result in faulty chemistry readings. And ORP-based automated dosing systems while convenient, operate off of drifting electron data that results in mis-dosed pools requiring staff interventions; a slippery slope.

The safe alternative to secure pool safety is installing an low-cost (under $1,000) pool-health management system that raises staff performance while proactively preventing problems from happening. That’s precisely what Crestwood Village in Snowmass, Colorado did, to spectacular results.

While Brittain Properties learned these lessons the hard way, another property 2,000 miles away was pioneering a different approach. At 8,500 feet elevation in Snowmass Village, Colorado, Crestwood Village faced unique challenges in maintaining their pool and three hot tubs. The thin mountain air and intense sun created conditions where water chemistry could shift as quickly as the weather.

Tim Lankins, Crestwood's Facilities Director, understood that maintaining perfect pool chemistry at high altitude required more than traditional methods could offer. "Before installing WaterGuru," Lankins recalls, "our staff members were constantly performing manual tests—a repetitive task all too visible to alarmed guests. Guest responses were 'Oh, what's wrong?' With staff then having to offer reassurances that all was good - not a conversation we want to be having."

One relied on traditional maintenance methods and paid a devastating price. The other embracing innovation transformed their operation, eliminating the risks faced by most properties.

What all commercial pools struggle under is an imperfect, error-ridden system allowing pool chemistry to frequently fall outside the comfort/health zone target. Property Managers are recognizing that even well trained, multitasking staff cannot maintain healthy pool conditions 100% of the time.

That’s what tripped up Brittain Properties. Why does this critical problem persist?

The inconvenient truth is that many pool-certified staff stick with what’s familiar, unaware of new advances in pool-health maintenance solutions. The new pool-property gold standard for elevating guest experience and reducing liability exposure is relying on an AI-powered pool-health management system. - designed specifically for lodging and property firms seeking to safeguard guest health within existing maintenance budgets.

The professional pool service industry recently recognized this shift. Adam Beech, President of Pool Brain Software, whose software runs the industry’s largest pool service firms noted in November, 2024: "WaterGuru's SENSE monitor delivers a true chlorine reading, not ORP, and is easy to install, and importantly, flow and chemistry is monitored; both critical in preventing pools from turning green."

The early adopters of this pool-health management model include Ritz Carlton, Marriott, Fairmont, Hilton, Sheraton, Hyatt, Wyndham, Andaz, Holiday Inn, Super8, and property firms such as Weidner, Fortis, Allegiant Carter, Greystone, AMC, and Birge&Held, among others. The transition represents more than just a technological upgrade—it's a fundamental shift in how properties approach pool safety.

WaterGuru’s SENSE management system, the industry leader, combines science proven water analysis methods that eliminate human-error with AI-dosing tools to lift staff performance, An event-driven workflow layer delivers an early warning system alerting both maintenance staff and property managers to problems, wherever they go – eliminating any single point of failure. Finally, a management dashboard confirms that remedial actions were effective in restoring healthy pool chemistry.

With improved management oversight, problems no longer go unseen, or discovered late. For under $1,000, that’s an exceptional liability insurance policy. The painful lessons learned from Brittain Properties and the success stories like Crestwood Village point to a clear conclusion: the era of trusting clear water and periodic manual testing is over. Modern pool management requires accurate, automated chemical analysis, AI-powered dosing, and real-time alerting so timely actions avert bad outcomes.