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Swimming Pool Drains

Swimming pool drains and child water safety. Adult and child swimming pool safety rules and regulations of public swimming pools could save your life.



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Public & Home Swimming Pool Safety


Pool drains have accounted for hundreds of death in the last 30 years. They can come loose or not be there at all. Having a proper drain and an understanding of what can happen can save a child's life. They are for filtration and pool drainage to help drain the pool.

Children like to swim to the deepest part of the pool and see how fast they can come back up.

Most of the time children, or adults for that matter, have no idea the power that is created by pool's filtration system. This suction is so powerful it can actually hold a grown adult down.

Imagine what it can do to a child, resulting in injury or drowning. There have been cases where children have been disemboweled after sitting on a swimming pool drain.

Don't allow you child become another drowning statistic.


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Virginia Graeme Baker Act

PUBLIC LAW 110–140—DEC. 19, 2007 TITLE XIV—POOL AND SPA SAFETYSEC. 1401. SHORT TITLE.This title may be cited as the ‘‘Virginia Graeme Baker Pooland Spa Safety Act’’.SEC. 1402.

FINDINGS

Congress finds the following:

  1. Of injury-related deaths, drowning is the second leadingcause of death in children aged 1 to 14 in the United States.
  2. In 2004, 761 children aged 14 and under died as a result of unintentional drowning.
  3. Adult supervision at all aquatic venues is a critical safety factor in preventing children from drowning.
  4. Research studies show that the installation and properuse of barriers or fencing, as well as additional layers of protection, could substantially reduce the number of childhood residential swimming pool drownings and near drownings.

The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (along with the death of Abigail Taylor) was passed by Congress in 2007 and requires commercial pools to replace their old pool drains with a safety pool drain.

I am proud to say that the YMCA in Albany, OR. was, to the best of my knowledge, one of the first commercial pools in the state of Oregon that installed a new pool drain.

This law is for the improvement and inspections of commercial pools and Hot Tubs, however, enforcing the law is a bit more difficult. Many pools are not inspected and the parents take for granted that the pools in which they and their children swim are safe.

This doesn't include swimming pool deck drains sometimes called swimming pool overflow drain.



Virginia Graeme Baker Safety Act


Swimming And Water Safety

To make sure that the pool in which you swim is safe, ask the pool operator or manager for the documentation of their compliance to the Virginia Graeme Baker Act. If they can’t, ask why. If they don’t have a good solid answer, simply walk away. Refuse to swim in that pool and don’t allow your children near the pool.

If you do allow them to swim, tell them in no uncertain terms to stay away from the bottom swimming pool drain. No T.V. for a year, grounding for life, no video games until they're 90 years old, whatever it takes.

It’s not a game. It could save your child’s life.

To the best of my knowledge, all commercial and public pools should have been compliant by December 2008.


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Suction Entrapment & Pool Safety Rules

There are mainly 5 kinds of suction entrapment. It is what it says it is, simply being trapped to a swimming pool drain cover by the suction it creates.

  1. Body entrapment
  2. Hair entrapment
  3. Limb entrapment
  4. Mechanical entrapment (clothing or jewelry get caught in the swimming pool drain)
  5. Evisceration (the person sits on the drain and their intestines get pulled out)



Swimming Safety Tips

Hopefully I have your attention. If I do, then read on. If I don’t, read the above and look at the picture again until I have your attention, then come back here.

  1. Make sure that the swimming pool drain is the correct size and is compliant with the above law. It should be in good condition without any missing or loose screws, and the filtration system should be in proper working order.
  2. Be sure the Hot Tub or swimming pool drain cover “anti -vortex” meaning the cover is designed to distribute the water from the sides as well as the top. Some may even be domed shaped to make it harder to form a tight seal around a child’s rear-end, back, or stomach.
  3. Have multiple drains with the “anti-vortex” pool cover. This allows the suctions power to be reduced at one end and they are so spread apart that it’s impossible to cover all of them at the same time.
  4. Stay clear of the channel drains and floor drain grates


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Old Style Pool Drain


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New Anti-Vortex Style


Anti Entrapment Drains

This will give a ball-park figure of what you may expect to pay for a safety swimming pool drain.

Convert a 9" Square to an 8" Antivortex Outlet $90-$130
Convert a 12" Square to an 10" Antivortex Outlet $110-$150

There are some swimming pool drains that simply cover the drain. This is mainly for your pool cleaner to not get stuck on the bottom pool drain.

Injuries and deaths from swimming pool drains have been going on for years, but just recently has anything been done about it. I say good. It's about time we're all on the same page concerning swimming safety.

Be the example and get it done today.



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Swimming Safety From Swimming Pool Drains