Wednesday, February 23, 2022 | 2:00 – 3:00 PM EST

Register for the webinar by clicking here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) worked and partnered with public health officials, aquatics sector experts, and researchers to create and update the Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC). The MAHC aims to prevent illness, injury, disability, and death through the design, construction, operation, and management of public aquatic facilities. The MAHC’s vision is to promote healthy and safe aquatic experiences for everyone.

For the 4th edition, 530 change requests (CRs) were submitted to the Council for the Model Aquatic Health Code (CMAHC). CRs were then discussed at the third CMAHC Vote on the Code Conference and voted on by CMAHC membership. Of 521 CRs, CMAHC membership voted to pass 326 (63%). As of February 2022, CDC provisionally accepted at least 306 (94%) of the passed CRs. Key revisions in this edition address topics such as enclosure requirements (e.g., height minimum), cyanuric acid concentration as a closure item, lower pH minimum, secondary treatment and filtration, and standardizing terms (e.g., rope and float line).

CDC worked to trim text from the MAHC Code and Annex. CDC moved the MAHC preface and user guide to CDC’s MAHC website; consolidated the Code and Annex listed abbreviations, terms, and referenced codes and standards; created a reference library (e.g., updated and deduplicated references); and deleted the alphabetized list of references. Future MAHC updates for consideration for the 5th edition could include addressing surf venues and artificial lagoons, further developing CRs that did not pass membership vote, and standardizing terms (e.g., use of “pool” versus “aquatic venue”).

Speaker Information

Samaria Aluko, MPH

ORISE Fellow, Healthy Swimming and Model Aquatic Health Code at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Samaria Aluko, MPH, is the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) fellow with the Healthy Swimming and Model Aquatic Health Code. She has worked on outbreak investigations of recreational water–associated illness and collaborates with public health authorities and the aquatics sector to develop science-based prevention and control measures. She has a bachelor’s degree in biological science with an emphasis in global health from the University of Georgia and a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from Temple University. Prior to joining Healthy Swimming, Samaria served in the Georgia Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 response.

Help Us Develop MAHC Quick Hit Trainings!

NACCHO is preparing to develop online, recorded trainings for aquatic health professionals. These brief trainings will be approximately 20-minutes long, and will cover information in the CDC’s Model Aquatic Health Code.

In order to prioritize training topics, NACCHO has developed a short survey (click here to access it) to collect information from aquatic health professionals to determine what trainings will best meet their needs. This survey is expected to take no more than 5 minutes to complete. We appreciate your input!