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Thousands of public pools in California are still unsafe
July 9th, 2009, 3:00 am · 6 Comments · posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer
Thousands of public pools in California - and throughout the nation - remain unsafe more than six months after new federal pool rules took effect.
The somewhat confounding Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act requires every public pool in America to install anti-entrapment drain covers ($150 or so each); and - if the pool has only a single drain - to install an automatic pump shut off system, or a safety vacuum release system, or any suction-limiting release system. (These can install in the pool shed for under $1,000.) The idea is to reduce the risk of drowning and entrapment.
The folks spearheading the effort to drag pool scofflaws kicking and screaming into compliance sent a second letter to California Attorney General Jerry Brown Wednesday (letter-to-jerry-brown). “Washington D.C., New Orleans, Phoenix and others already brought their public pools into compliance prior to opening this swim season. This does not appear to be the case in any of California’s major municipalities,” says the letter from Danielle Kazmier, executive director of the Pool Safety Council.
Public pools are those owned by homeowners associations, apartment complexes, hotels, gyms, schools, cities, water parks, aquatics centers, etc. There are 6,000 or so in Orange County, and many hundreds, if not thousands, are apparently still out of compliance.
The letter cites an investigation by NBC’s The Today Show, which chronicled the lack of compliance. Singled out for special derision was Los Angeles County, where only about 1,600 of its 16,000 public pools are in compliance. You can watch the segment by clicking here.
Just how much of a threat is this, really? Well, The Consumer Product Safety Commission counts 74 cases of “drain entrapment” in pools and spas between 1999 and 2007, resulting in nine deaths.
The federal government will spend $29 million rolling out the new rules over the next five years: $4 million to help pool operators install safer drains, and $25 million on education programs.
That may seem like a lot of money to throw at so few incidents - and it doesn’t count the millions pool operators will pay to make the changes.
But how much is a life worth? Just Tuesday, a 5-year-old boy in Florida nearly drowned after his arm got stuck in a pool drain pipe.
For more on the rules, see:
- New pool rules: A $29 million pain in the drain? and
- Pool owners: Proceed cautiously on new pool rules!
- Nitty gritty on new pool rules, straight from the feds)
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Pool Safety Council? We already have CPSC
When are we going to realize these stupid bureaucracies are created because someone’s friend wants an easy high paid gov’t job while crying “It’s for the kids” or “You can’t put a price tag on safety”?
How did any generation in the past manage to live through all these deadly hazards?
Common sense. Something that is not mandated anymore.
9 deaths in 8 years. For the money, I think a different bigger problem could be tackled.
Not to mention all those kids peeing and dumping in the pools.
The source contact for this story is a “non-profit group” whose board members are primarily manufacturers of pool safety related products. One of its founding members has actually gone state to state lobbying for laws that would REQUIRE his patented device on every swimming pool and spa, even though a minor plumbing modification solves the safety issue (google the APSP/ANSI-7 Standard) and renders it pointless to have the device. Many public pools here in OC are still out of compliance, some even after work has been done by “professionals” who are not informed on the technical aspects that MUST be taken into account.
Moderators, you have my email address. I have tried to contact staff writers in the past but never have received a response. I can provide you some reader-friendly information that is not product-biased nor commercially driven. AB1020 (pending California legislation) will hopefully help pave the way for compliance throughout the state.
4 million to actually install the devices and 25 million for “education” seems way out of whack. Why do we need education if the safety hazard is removed? Buying one of those $150 covers for every one of the 6000 pools in the state would cost $900,000 and hey, maybe the state could get a discount. The last thing we need are commercials and shiny posters about getting limbs stuck in drains.
Pool safety should never be compromised. There are so many dangerous pools out there. Old plumbing, bad electrical lines, improper filtration systems; some of which the result of a builder taking the ‘cheap’ route. No savings makes up for a life lost. CA needs to get on this now!