The Council for the Model Aquatic Health Code (CMAHC) announced the release of new guidance addressing the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of cold-water venues, including cold plunges, ice baths, and other cold-water immersion systems.
Cold-water venues have grown rapidly in popularity at wellness clinics, fitness facilities, and spas across North America and internationally in recent years. Until now, these venues have lacked a clear, consistent framework to guide public health agencies and industry professionals in evaluating their design and operation, a gap that has left AHJs, designers, and operators without a common reference point as demand for these facilities continues to rise.
The new guidance was developed by CMAHC's Ad Hoc Cold-Water Venue Committee, a multidisciplinary group of public health officials and aquatics industry experts from the United States, Canada, and Australia. It addresses water quality, disinfection, circulation, injury prevention, signage, and safe operation practices, and covers both permanent, built-in-place systems and single-user, manufactured units.
"Cold-water venues present operational and safety challenges that are meaningfully different from traditional pools and spas," says Sarah Cheshire, REHS, committee chair and representative of Utah DHHS. "This guidance gives regulators and operators a practical, science-based framework to work from, something that simply hasn't existed until now.”
The guidance is non-regulatory and does not establish new legal requirements. It is intended to align with the Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC) and to provide authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs), facility designers, builders, and operators with a consistent reference for plan review, permitting, and day-to-day operation of cold-water venues.
Key areas addressed in the guidance include:
- Design and plan review considerations, including bather load, circulation, and condensation control
- Water quality and disinfection challenges unique to cold-water systems
- Operations and maintenance best practices
- Recommended signage and risk communication for bathers
- Special considerations for single-bather, small-volume systems
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