MONROE - Local swimming pools are working to be in compliance with anti-drowning drain cover requirements.
The requirements, established by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, apply to pools and spas used by the public, including those used at municipal pools and those at hotels, private clubs, apartment buildings and community centers.
The improved drain systems were outlined in legislation passed by Congress a year ago. Pool and spa operators had a year to comply; Friday is the deadline for installing the new equipment.
Pools are expected to install draining equipment that will prevent drowning because of suction at the drains.
The issue received heightened attention after the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James A. Baker was sucked onto a spa drain in 2002. She drowned despite efforts to pry her off.
Alan Korn, public policy director of the Washington-based nonprofit group Safe Kids Worldwide, said the vast majority of American swimmers don't realize that the bottom of pools and spas and wading pools are a hidden hazard, especially to children.
He said one person dies because of pool or spa drain suction in a typical year. His agency cited 33 deaths of children under age 14 between 1985 and 2004.
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 and may have to close.
Monroe Parks Supervisor Paul Klinzing said the city's pool isn't in compliance with the new regulations and the Wisconsin Parks and Recreation Association is trying to get an extension for cities to have time to get the new equipment.
He said the city has been in contact with the company that built the pool to determine what kinds of drain covers could be used.
Most of the water that drains from the seasonal swimming pool goes through the pool's gutters rather than through a drain.
"We want to meet the standards and we're concerned about safety," Klinzing said.
One of the possibilities in the wading pool is for a dome-shaped cover over the drain. That could cause problems, however, because there is a potential for children to trip on it, he said.
Reid Stangel, director of the Green County Family YMCA, said he's aware of the new regulations and said the YMCA also plans to meet with the builders of its pool to determine what kinds of drain covers would work.
The deepest end of the swimming pool is 6 feet and a dome cover could pose a danger to anyone who dives into the pool or is treading water at the deep end.
The YMCA's pool has a pipe 6 inches in diameter that is 6 inches below the bottom of the pool. Two drains feed into the pipe and there are covers on the drains, Stangel said. The new requirements would force the YMCA to rip up the bottom of the pool and put the pipe 9 inches below the surface.
Stangel said the drains are far enough apart to make sure no one could sit on both of them and lifeguards make sure people don't stay under the water for an unusually long time.
Neither drain at the pool has enough suction to pull someone under the water.
"If we get a Band-Aid in the water it won't just suck it into the drain," he said of the pump.
Stangel said he feels remorse for people who have been injured in drain accidents and said the YMCA will do its best to make sure it complies with safety requirements.
Stangel said he hasn't heard if the pool at the YMCA will actually have to close Saturday since the new standards for drains haven't been met.
The YMCA isn't alone in its non-compliance..
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 and may have to close.
It said the cost of complying with the new law would range from $1,000 to $15,000 per pool. A variety of factors, including the availability of compliant drains and the workers to install them, determine the eventual price tag. Given current economic conditions, that's a potentially heavy financial burden for local governments.
Nancy Nord, acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said Monday the agency will focus initially on public baby pools and wading pools, as well as in-ground spas that have flat drain grates on the bottom and just one drain system.
"We will be focusing our initial efforts on the littlest swimmers in the littlest pools," Nord told reporters.
Nord said, however, that Congress did not give her agency the $7 million needed to enforce the law. As a result, the federal government expects states to take on much of the enforcement responsibility.
Nord had no sense of how many pool and spa owners had installed the new equipment or how many might have to close. "We have limited resources and we don't have the resources to send federal safety inspectors to every single pool," Nord said.
At the same time, she said, her agency reserves the right to take action against violators.
The requirements, established by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, apply to pools and spas used by the public, including those used at municipal pools and those at hotels, private clubs, apartment buildings and community centers.
The improved drain systems were outlined in legislation passed by Congress a year ago. Pool and spa operators had a year to comply; Friday is the deadline for installing the new equipment.
Pools are expected to install draining equipment that will prevent drowning because of suction at the drains.
The issue received heightened attention after the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James A. Baker was sucked onto a spa drain in 2002. She drowned despite efforts to pry her off.
Alan Korn, public policy director of the Washington-based nonprofit group Safe Kids Worldwide, said the vast majority of American swimmers don't realize that the bottom of pools and spas and wading pools are a hidden hazard, especially to children.
He said one person dies because of pool or spa drain suction in a typical year. His agency cited 33 deaths of children under age 14 between 1985 and 2004.
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 and may have to close.
Monroe Parks Supervisor Paul Klinzing said the city's pool isn't in compliance with the new regulations and the Wisconsin Parks and Recreation Association is trying to get an extension for cities to have time to get the new equipment.
He said the city has been in contact with the company that built the pool to determine what kinds of drain covers could be used.
Most of the water that drains from the seasonal swimming pool goes through the pool's gutters rather than through a drain.
"We want to meet the standards and we're concerned about safety," Klinzing said.
One of the possibilities in the wading pool is for a dome-shaped cover over the drain. That could cause problems, however, because there is a potential for children to trip on it, he said.
Reid Stangel, director of the Green County Family YMCA, said he's aware of the new regulations and said the YMCA also plans to meet with the builders of its pool to determine what kinds of drain covers would work.
The deepest end of the swimming pool is 6 feet and a dome cover could pose a danger to anyone who dives into the pool or is treading water at the deep end.
The YMCA's pool has a pipe 6 inches in diameter that is 6 inches below the bottom of the pool. Two drains feed into the pipe and there are covers on the drains, Stangel said. The new requirements would force the YMCA to rip up the bottom of the pool and put the pipe 9 inches below the surface.
Stangel said the drains are far enough apart to make sure no one could sit on both of them and lifeguards make sure people don't stay under the water for an unusually long time.
Neither drain at the pool has enough suction to pull someone under the water.
"If we get a Band-Aid in the water it won't just suck it into the drain," he said of the pump.
Stangel said he feels remorse for people who have been injured in drain accidents and said the YMCA will do its best to make sure it complies with safety requirements.
Stangel said he hasn't heard if the pool at the YMCA will actually have to close Saturday since the new standards for drains haven't been met.
The YMCA isn't alone in its non-compliance..
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 and may have to close.
It said the cost of complying with the new law would range from $1,000 to $15,000 per pool. A variety of factors, including the availability of compliant drains and the workers to install them, determine the eventual price tag. Given current economic conditions, that's a potentially heavy financial burden for local governments.
Nancy Nord, acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said Monday the agency will focus initially on public baby pools and wading pools, as well as in-ground spas that have flat drain grates on the bottom and just one drain system.
"We will be focusing our initial efforts on the littlest swimmers in the littlest pools," Nord told reporters.
Nord said, however, that Congress did not give her agency the $7 million needed to enforce the law. As a result, the federal government expects states to take on much of the enforcement responsibility.
Nord had no sense of how many pool and spa owners had installed the new equipment or how many might have to close. "We have limited resources and we don't have the resources to send federal safety inspectors to every single pool," Nord said.
At the same time, she said, her agency reserves the right to take action against violators.