How Not to Fix a Pool Chemical Pump

One thing I have learned during my short time at the JCC is the big things usually break in the last hour of the day. Out of the four workers on my maintenance staff, one is on vacation, one is still out sick since a heart attack in November and the other two leave at 3:30 each day because they get in very early.

I received a call from aquatics (as usual) and was told the chlorine pump "center tube" was not working, therefore no chlorine was getting to the pool. I didn't even know where the chlorine pump was located, much less what a center tube was or how to fix it.

I called the maintenance guy that is on vacation (something he told me to do if I ever needed anything) and told him what the problem was. He directed me to the pump and gave me step by step instructions over the phone of where to find the part and how to replace it. The repair itself was easy, so I know how to fix at least one thing on a pool if it every happens again.

However, the worst part was not the repair, but the smooth move I pulled while repairing it. I unplugged the pump like I was supposed to so no chlorine was being pumped through the tubing. However, when I pulled the small "broken" tube off, it still had drops of chlorine in it. While pulling it off, a few drops of chlorine flipped out and went straight into my left eye. I flushed it out with water and then finished the repair with basically one eye. Looking in the mirror last night I had a chemical burn on my eye...a little raised nodule I could feel when I blinked.

The redness went away and the burning stopped last night. Today it feels almost as good as new, except my left eye seems to be over actively "making sleep" throughout the day in an attempt to completely heal itself.

Bottom line is, even if everything is turned off and looks dry, wear goggles, genius.