National Swimming Pool Foundation

The National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF) is a United States 501(c)(3)^[1] non-profit organization, which sells a certification called the Certified Pool Operator^[2] certification, amongst many other less known products. The Certified Pool Operator® certification is accepted almost worldwide as a credential that governments consider a quasi licenser to professionally care for and maintain swimming pools in recreational water environments.^[3] NSPF itself is primarily a publishing company, they sell books and online courses through over one thousand instructors authorized to teach their courses worldwide.^[4] In 2003 Tom Lachocki was named CEO. Lachocki was formerly a Biolab/Chemtura chemist who holds eight US patents on chemical processes many of which have direct or indirect application to swimming pools or "recirculating bodies of water".^[5] Lachocki took the Certified Pool Operator® handbook from a black-and-white hand-sketched manual to a full-color matter-of-fact textbook.^[6]

Though for many years the Certified Pool Operator® certification was the only certification for someone wishing to work in the pool industry, the CDC now recognizes at least seven different pool operations courses which are similar.^[7]

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