Major air contaminants of concern in indoor swimming pools are vaporized disinfection byproducts (DBPs) formed in the swimming pool water. Conventionally we rely on ventilation to control indoor air contaminant levels. ASHRAE Standard 62.1 Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality (2010) specifies the required minimum outdoor air ventilation rate for indoor swimming pools in Ventilation Rate Procedure (VRP). However, swimming pools compliant to the required ventilation rate can still face unacceptable airborne DBP levels. In order to improve the indoor air quality (IAQ) in swimming pools, the World Health Organization (WHO) and US Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommend much higher outdoor air ventilation rate than ASHRAE Standard 62.1.

Under the presence of strong sources of specific air contaminants like swimming pools, air cleaning can be a promising technique to improve IAQ. ASHRAE Standard 62.1 Indoor air Quality Procedure (IAQP) allows a reduced outdoor air ventilation rate when it is combined with air cleaning. This paper presents brief review on ventilation requirement by standard and guidelines for indoor swimming pools, and the results of mass balance analysis carried out to investigate the effects of ventilation and air cleaning on the indoor air pollution levels in a typical public swimming pool. Ventilation rates given by ASHRAE Standard 62.1 VRP as well as those by other guidelines were considered and compared with ASHRAE Standard 62.1 IAQP, which has the lowest ventilation rate in combination with air cleaning.