Summertime Swimming
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It is a classic pastime for much of the country but what most people don't realize is some of the inherent dangers built into the actual swimming pools.
Alan Korn, public policy director of the Washington-based nonprofit group Safe Kids Worldwide says that, on average, one person dies a year in pool-drain suction related incidents a year. Between 1985 and 2004, there were 33 deaths of children under 14. This issue was hidden in relative obscurity until 2002 when the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James A. Baker was sucked onto a spa drain, and drowned despite efforts to pry her off.
It was this tragedy that prompted Congress to pass a law mandating that all public pools, including municipal pools and those at hotels, private clubs, apartment buildings and community centers install a new "hump-shaped" drain-cover that reduce the suction that flatter drain-covers are more conducive to. Congress gave pools falling under the umbrella statement of "public pool" a year to comply to this new law but a year later (the deadline is Friday Dec 19th) the National Swimming Pool Foundation, a nonprofit group in Colorado Springs, Colo., said about 80 percent of the 300,000 public pools and spas in the United States do not comply with the new rules.
Unfortunately due to a lack of supply of compliant drains and workers to install them the new regulations could cost anywhere from $1,000 to $15,000 to put in place. This presents a problem for many municipal pools based on the economic crunch many local governments have been put in during the present recession.
If your holiday plans include going to a resort or spa and you are expecting to swim, you better check with the resort to make sure they have complied with the new law which takes effect on Friday, December 19, 2008.