Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death in children. Sadly, many children each year swim unsupervised or fall into the pool when their caretakers aren’t looking. Using certain pool supplies, there are ways to prevent drowning with every pool owner should know about.
Pool safety awareness has grown steadily since the 1980′s, and many states have passed legislation that has required residential pool owners to adhere to certain standards, including a national law that requires pools to be installed with adequate drain covers. Florida and California were the first states to legislate additional standards.
Florida passed a state legislature requiring residential pool owners to either physically restrict access to the pool, install a safety cover, alarm the house’s windows (keeping kids from sneaking out and into the pool without supervision), or to equip doors with a specific latching device. These requirements are a good idea to follow even if you do not live in Florida.
In order to follow their lead, the easiest step is probably to install a safety cover. Safety covers usually come in a mesh material and a variety of colors. Not only do they prevent children or pets from drowning, but they protect your pool from environmental elements as well. The mesh fabric of most covers will provide enough shade to keep certain algae from growing.
The key to pool safety is layers of protection. Sometimes pool owners forget to put safety covers back into place. Maybe you have a latching door, but you’ve left it wide open. A number of factors can lead to one safety measure failing. So, pool owners must use multiple measures to protect from drowning. This means restricting access with gates or other tools, using a safety cover, making sure your kids can’t sneak out at night (Which is safe for lots of reasons!), installing latching devices, and any other preventative swimming pool supplies.
There’s also another way to make your pool even safer that Florida’s legislation didn’t mention. As previously mentioned, sometimes pool owners remove safety covers and forget to put it back in place. If you have your cover removed, pool alarms can alert you to any disturbances in the water’s surface. If children fall in accidentally or sneak into the pool, the alarm will sound.
All of these steps may seem like a lot of effort, but if they prevent drowning, all the time and money spent will become invaluable.
Dennis Kucherka is a Service Manager at ASD Pool Supply, a leading pool cleaner and swimming pool supplies provider. For more information about ASD pool supply store or to purchase pool and spa supplies, please visit www.asdpoolsupply.com
