Pools spend thousands on drain safety to comply with federal regulations / LJWorld.com

Archive for Thursday, May 14, 2009

Compliance with new federal rules may delay some opening dates

Jim McDaniel, environmental health specialist with the Douglas County Health Department, takes water samples during a recent inspection of the pool at the SpringHill Suites By Marriott at the Riverfront Plaza. Many pools in the area have had to spend thousands of dollars to comply with new federal safety regulations. Eudora leaders say the regulations may cause them to delay the opening of their city pool past Memorial Day.

By Chad Lawhorn

May 14, 2009

Pool drain law delays Eudora pool opening

A new federal law has created a mess for Eudora officials, and families in Eudora may have to wait before enjoying their new pool. Enlarge video

Forget about splish splash. The dominant sound at area swimming pools this summer may be “ka-ching.”

Pools across the region are spending thousands of dollars to comply with federal safety regulations, and leaders in Eudora believe the regulations may cause them to delay the opening of their city pool past Memorial Day.

At issue are new federal rules designed to make it less likely that drains become deadly suction devices that trap children and others to the bottom of a pool.

“Particularly girls with long hair can get their hair sucked into the drains, they can get their fingers trapped in the grates, and there have even been situations where the torso of a child has become entrapped by the suction of a drain,” said Richard Ziesenis, director of Environmental Health for the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department.

Lawrence’s Outdoor Aquatic Center is scheduled to open as scheduled on Memorial Day weekend. But the waters are murkier in Eudora.

There, city leaders thought their outdoor pool built in 2007 met the new federal guidelines. But last week, Ziesenis told the city that the pool would need some modifications.

Most cities in the area have been spending $2,000 to $5,000 per pool to install special drain gates or automatic shut-off valves that kick in when a drain blockage is detected.

But last week, Eudora council members were told by the pool’s engineering firm — BG Consultants — that they are recommending a $35,000 project to fix the drain system.

Tammy Hodges, Eudora parks and recreation director, said the Eudora pool project may be costlier because more may need to be done to ensure that the water slide and lazy river component of the pool meet the guidelines.

“It is a big mess right now,” Hodges said.

Eudora leaders and Ziesenis are expected to meet next week to discuss solutions in more detail.

Here’s a look at how the new regulations are playing out in other communities:

• In Lawrence, acting Parks and Recreation director Ernie Shaw said the Outdoor Aquatic Center will open on time. In fact, the pool was filled with water on Tuesday.

Lawrence ended up spending just under $10,000 for drain grates for the Outdoor Aquatic Center, the Indoor Aquatic Center and the wading pool in South Park, said Jimmy Gibbs, the city’s aquatics manager.

The Outdoor Aquatic Center is scheduled to open at 1 p.m. on May 23.

• In Bonner Springs, the city spent about $6,400 to buy eight anti-entrapment drain covers for its pools, which open May 23.

Skip Dobbs, Bonner Springs director of parks and recreation, said many cities have waited to do the work because details about the federal regulations have been unclear.

“There was so much misinformation floating around and speculation, we were just kind of waiting until everything got anchored,” Dobbs said.

• In Baldwin City, work is under way to bring the city pool into compliance. The pool is expected to open for Memorial Day weekend, City Administrator Jeff Dingman said. The city is spending about $3,000 for drain plates. Several have been installed, but the city is still waiting to receive parts for others.

• In Shawnee, repairs to that city’s two pools are scheduled to be done prior to the pool’s May 23 opening. Tonya Lecuru, deputy director of Shawnee Parks and Recreation, said $33,000 was spent to improve the drains at the Splash Cove at the Jim Allen Aquatic Center, and another $10,000 will be spent to fix drains at the Soetaert Aquatic Center.

• In De Soto, $3,600 worth of work has been completed that will allow the city pool to open on time, City Administrator Pat Guilfoyle said.

• Although the Tonganoxie pool was built just last year, about $2,800 in drain improvements were made to the pool recently, said Kathy Bard, assistant city administrator.

The new federal regulations — called the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act — was signed into law in December 2007. The regulations came to be after the granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker died in an incident in 2002 after the suction from a spa drain trapped her under the water.

From 1997 to 2007, the federal government reported nine deaths and 63 injuries related to suction entrapment in pools or spas.

The regulations cover public pools and spas, which means pools and hot tubs at hotels, health clubs and apartment complexes have to meet the regulations.

In Lawrence and Douglas County, the Health Department will begin inspecting 96 outdoor pools and spas later this month. The county’s 13 indoor pools and spas already have complied with the regulations, he said.

Ziesenis said the Health Department won’t shut any pool down for not complying with the regulations. Technically, the regulations are designed to be enforced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. But Ziesenis said the Health Department will notify pools that they are out of compliance, provide information on how they can comply with the regulations, and will note in their inspection report that the pool is out of compliance. Outdoor public pools generally are inspected on a monthly basis during the summer. Indoor pools are inspected throughout the year.

Ziesenis said he believes most pool owners will fix the pools because they know they could face significant liability if an accident were to happen in a pool that was found to be out of compliance.

The regulations don’t apply to a homeowner’s private pool. But Ziesenis said he’s urging homeowners to have their pools checked for safety because the same suction problems can exist.

Reporters Jesse Fray, David Oakes, Shawn Linenberger, Elvyn Jones, Melissa Treolo, Jeff Myrick and Caroline Boyer contributed to this report.

Discussion

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14 May 2009
at 10:55 a.m.

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d_prowess (Anonymous) says…

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… Da da, Da da, Da da Da da Da da!
14 May 2009
at 11:30 a.m.

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middlemgmt (Anonymous) says…

The requirements were given over a year ago. Eudora should have had plenty of time to figure this out.
14 May 2009
at 12:10 p.m.

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kansasmom (Anonymous) says…

$35,000 for Eudora??? BG consultants have done enough of spending our money. This pool is only 2 years old. I hope Hopson doesn't allow this….
14 May 2009
at 12:20 p.m.

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magnus (Anonymous) says…

I agree $35K for Eudora's pool sounds excessive, but something has to be done. I was living in Minneapolis when a young girl was disemboweled when she got stuck on an improperly covered pool drain at the St. Louis Park Country Club. She endured several years of painful surgeries before dying of complications from the accident. Regardless of the cost, there is simply no excuse for another child/family to go through such an awful experience.
14 May 2009
at 12:21 p.m.

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magnus (Anonymous) says…

And let's not forget that her family won an $8 million lawsuit from the country club and the manufacturer of the pool drain. That makes a few thousand dollars of repairs seem pretty cheap.
14 May 2009
at 12:23 p.m.

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musbhiorlo (Anonymous) says…

you mean all that money went down the drain?
14 May 2009
at 1:18 p.m.

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notajayhawk (Anonymous) says…

>>> Lawrence ended up spending just under $10,000 for drain grates for the Outdoor Aquatic Center, the Indoor Aquatic Center and the wading pool in South Park

Okay, I'll bite. Just how does one get sucked into a drain, let alone drown as a result, in a *wading* pool?????

14 May 2009
at 1:32 p.m.

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alm77 (Anonymous) says…

nota, do a google search, but be prepared to have your heart broken and your stomach turned. It's scary, scary stuff.
14 May 2009
at 1:38 p.m.

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salad (Anonymous) says…

“Okay, I'll bite. Just how does one get sucked into a drain, let alone drown as a result, in a *wading* pool?????”

Easily. Especially for a small child. If a person, for whatever reason, gets pinned on the pump suction, and takes in one “gulp” of water into the lungs, that can be enough. This is real life, not “ER” or other crap TV shows. It takes very little water deep in the lungs to drown you or cause a deep lung infection that kills you 5 days later.
14 May 2009
at 4:01 p.m.

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Pywacket (Anonymous) says…

nota: How many cases do you want to read about? Here are a few, including the one Magnus mentions, above.

This has been so highly publicized, I can't believe anyone who regularly reads the news hasn't heard of at least one case of either disembowelling or drowning from these things.

http://adc.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstra…
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/95…
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,3…

With the Eudora pool being so new, I hope they're having their attorneys review the laws that were in effect when the pool was being built. Is it possible that the builder failed to comply with regulations that were already in place? For the taxpayers' sake, I hope so! Obviously, if the new regs came about after that time, they'll probably have to bite the bullet and pay to have the drains brought up to code. Even then, I'd get a 2nd opinion on the charge of fixing them. Why is their builder quoting an amount so much higher than others?
14 May 2009
at 6:09 p.m.

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labmonkey (Anonymous) says…

Man, I remember when I was a kid, you couldn't swim well until you could swim down to the drain (12 ft deep). I remember always finding dollars down there.

For once I agree with Pywacket. Good post.
15 May 2009
at 5:16 p.m.

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KansasVoter (Anonymous) says…

musbhiorlo (Anonymous) says…
“you mean all that money went down the drain?”

Outstanding!
15 May 2009
at 6:01 p.m.

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cletus26 (Anonymous) says…

awhile back they had video on the news that showed how a child could get stuck into a drain( pretty scary) and unable to get loose from it. it's good that the city is keeping an eye out on those little things that we don't pay attention to. y'all get them pools up-to-date for them chil'lins can swim!!