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Certified Pool Operator Handbook Practice
Test Questions and Correct Answers
1. You operate a 120,000-gallon pool, and upon performing your
hourly chemical tests you observe the following readings: Total
Available Chlorine reading is 1.6 free available chlorine reading is
1.5 pH is 7.4 Your supervising lifeguard has just informed you that
you have had a fecal incident occur; a solid stool has been
discharged into the pool. According to the Centers for Disease
Control, as the CPO, you should do the following: Ans: clear the
pool and raise the free chlorine to 2 ppm
2. Assuming that your local health department requires you to
raise the free chlorine to 5 ppm, how much sodium hypochlorite
would be needed to raise the free chlorine in the pool in question
#1 to that level? Ans: 3.5 gallons
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3. You are the CPO for an indoor health club pool. The facility
manager informs you that he is receiving complaints about a
strong chlorine odor in the pool area, and several members have
complained of eye irritation. The most likely cause of these
complaints is: Ans: high levels of chloramines in the pool
4. To determine the level of chloramines in the water, you should
do which of the following? Ans: test for total chlorine and free
chlorine, then subtract the free chlorine number from the total
chlorine
5. You operate a 45,000 gallon indoor pool, and upon doing your
hourly chemical tests you observe the following readings:Total
available chlorine is 2.2 Free available chlorine is 1.4 and pH is 7.6
What is the level of chloramines in this pool? Ans: 0.8
7. You are the operator of a 330,000 gallon outdoor pool. Your
local health department requires you to perform a water balance
calculation once monthly. Upon performing the water tests
necessary to perform this calculation, you observe the following
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readings in your pool: Total alkalinity is 50 ppm pH is 7.2 Calcium
Hardness is 150 ppm Temperature is 76 degrees F Total Dissolved
Solids is 500 ppm Using these readings, what is the Saturation
Index for this pool? Ans: -0.8
8. To adjust the tested Total Alkalinity in the pool in question #7
to an acceptable level, which chemical would be most appropriate?
Ans: Sodium Bicarbonate
9. To adjust the tested pH in the pool in question #7 to an
acceptable level, which chemical would be most appropriate? Ans:
Sodium Carbonate
10. You are the CPO for a 28,000 gallon hotel pool. You perform a
water balance chemical test, and to your surprise, the Calcium
Hardness is only 100 ppm. How much calcium chloride (77%)
would be required to increase this to 400 ppm?" Ans: 100.8 lbs.
11. You are the CPO for a 100 foot long, 50 foot wide country club
pool. The average depth of this pool is 7 feet. You return to the
© 2025 All rights reserved
Certified Pool Operator Handbook Practice
Test Questions and Correct Answers
1. You operate a 120,000-gallon pool, and upon performing your
hourly chemical tests you observe the following readings: Total
Available Chlorine reading is 1.6 free available chlorine reading is
1.5 pH is 7.4 Your supervising lifeguard has just informed you that
you have had a fecal incident occur; a solid stool has been
discharged into the pool. According to the Centers for Disease
Control, as the CPO, you should do the following: Ans: clear the
pool and raise the free chlorine to 2 ppm
2. Assuming that your local health department requires you to
raise the free chlorine to 5 ppm, how much sodium hypochlorite
would be needed to raise the free chlorine in the pool in question
#1 to that level? Ans: 3.5 gallons
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 2 | Page
3. You are the CPO for an indoor health club pool. The facility
manager informs you that he is receiving complaints about a
strong chlorine odor in the pool area, and several members have
complained of eye irritation. The most likely cause of these
complaints is: Ans: high levels of chloramines in the pool
4. To determine the level of chloramines in the water, you should
do which of the following? Ans: test for total chlorine and free
chlorine, then subtract the free chlorine number from the total
chlorine
5. You operate a 45,000 gallon indoor pool, and upon doing your
hourly chemical tests you observe the following readings:Total
available chlorine is 2.2 Free available chlorine is 1.4 and pH is 7.6
What is the level of chloramines in this pool? Ans: 0.8
7. You are the operator of a 330,000 gallon outdoor pool. Your
local health department requires you to perform a water balance
calculation once monthly. Upon performing the water tests
necessary to perform this calculation, you observe the following
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, 3 | Page
readings in your pool: Total alkalinity is 50 ppm pH is 7.2 Calcium
Hardness is 150 ppm Temperature is 76 degrees F Total Dissolved
Solids is 500 ppm Using these readings, what is the Saturation
Index for this pool? Ans: -0.8
8. To adjust the tested Total Alkalinity in the pool in question #7
to an acceptable level, which chemical would be most appropriate?
Ans: Sodium Bicarbonate
9. To adjust the tested pH in the pool in question #7 to an
acceptable level, which chemical would be most appropriate? Ans:
Sodium Carbonate
10. You are the CPO for a 28,000 gallon hotel pool. You perform a
water balance chemical test, and to your surprise, the Calcium
Hardness is only 100 ppm. How much calcium chloride (77%)
would be required to increase this to 400 ppm?" Ans: 100.8 lbs.
11. You are the CPO for a 100 foot long, 50 foot wide country club
pool. The average depth of this pool is 7 feet. You return to the
© 2025 All rights reserved
