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Archive for the ‘Pool Safety’ Category

Having a swimming pool to relax or spend some fun time is every house owner’s dream. Swimming pools should be places of joy, fun and relaxation. Unfortunately, there are reported cases of drowning or near drowning in swimming pools almost on a daily basis, mostly with young children. Although people take a lot of precautions such as anti skid tiles, warning signs and so on, young children always seem to find a way into the pools.

The CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) has a set of guidelines that people can follow to ensure that their swimming pools are child-proofed. Since these rules are not mandatory to be implemented, not everyone is aware of these rules. Here are a few ways on how you can use barriers to child proof your swimming pools.

An Introduction to the CPSC Guidelines

According to the CPSC, any container that has the potential to drown a kid who is less the 3’6” tall can be classified as a pool. These include spas, hot tubs, over ground and in-laid pools. So, these guidelines can be implemented in any of the aforementioned structures.

When choosing a barrier, the three main factors that you must consider are if a child can get under the barrier, over it or above the barrier, and reach the pool. If the child can access the pool in spite of the barrier being present, the whole purpose of a barrier stands defeated.

According to the rules, the fence should be at least 48 inches high, including the masonry foundation or the platform on which it is installed on. If you are using a design where the bars are molded horizontally or vertically, parallel to each other, then the distance between them should not exceed 1-1/4^th inches. This measurement is determined by taking into account the average foot size of a young child.

If you are planning to install a chain link fence also, the gap between two consecutive links should be less than 1-1/4^th inches. Also, there should be a support pole every five feet to ensure that the chain link will stay firm.

Some General Guidelines for Getting a Barrier Installed

Without getting into too many numbers or measurements, this section will give you a few tips that you should keep in mind while ordering barriers for your swimming pools. Let us look at tips for in-ground pools before moving on to above ground pools.

Identify all the access points which are there for your in-ground swimming pool. These are the places through which children gain access to the pool’s vicinity and make sure you have covered all these access points. Also, make sure that the latch for the gate is childproofed. You can either use a padlock or use child-proof latches.

Above ground swimming pools usually have a set of stairs leading up to the pool. Install a childproof gate for the flight of stairs. Another precaution you need to take for above ground pools is the barrier around the pool. Ensure that the barrier measures at least five feet in length and follows all the CPSC guidelines.

Lily is an expert associated with Bonavista, a popular online store for products like hot tubs and swim spas. If you are considering installing an Endless Pool in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Bonavista offers top of the line accessories for the same.