AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — The City of Amarillo’s Environmental Health Department announced it is offering certified pool operator and certified pool technician courses free of charge.

Zachary Badrow, general program manager for the department, said the department was recently given a grant by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission which will provide for 40 free CPO and CPT classes each.

The first CPO class will take place on Oct. 26 and 27 at City Hall, said officials. More CPO classes will be offered in April and August of next year. CPT classes will be offered in March, May, June, July, and Sept. 2024.

“With the CPT test,” said Badrow, “That’s something in our area that just gives you a better understanding of how to operate a pool, how to figure out if your water is out of balance, what to do if it’s out of balance, what safety devices or equipment you are required to have, barrier safety, things of that nature, operational requirements like the pump room and how it’s supposed to run correctly.”

Badrow added that the CPO class will teach a more in-depth version of the CPT class.

“The CPO class is a lot more involved and that’s actually a requirement if you have a public interactive water feature because they kind of make a mist which there’s a real danger associated with that,” explained Badrow, “You need more certification for that,” he said.

According to Badrow, the classes will give a brief background on how to keep people safe in your pool.

“If the water, if the chemistry and things of that nature aren’t correct, bacteria and stuff can grow in the water. It can make people sick and some of that can be fatal. There are rare cases where Amoebas and things of that nature can actually cause brain lesions that are fatal. It gives you the barrier requirements to keep people safe like small children, it keeps them out. It keeps the people inside of it safe,” he said.