Swimming Pool Drain Dangers

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Swimming Pool Drain Dangers

There have been hundreds of people, mostly children, injured or even killed by swimming pool drains. The drain
covers can come loose or just simply be of the wrong type. Kids especially like to dive down to the deepest part of the
pool where the drain is and most people do not realize the dangerous and powerful suction that can be created
through the drain. The suction can actually hold a person down so that they may not be able to escape the suction's
powerful grip resulting in injury or drowning. Long hair can get caught in the drain as well as body parts and the
danger is much greater if the pool's drain cover is loose or missing. There have been cases where children have
actually been disemboweled after sitting on the drain and have their intestines pulled from their anus.
What are the ways to prevent such an accident?

First, make sure that the drain cover is in good condition with no broke grids to the cover and make sure all the cover
screws are in place and tight.
Second, be sure the drain cover is a anti-vortex type cover. An anti-vortex drain cover is designed to distribute the
intake water in the sides as well as the top to lessen the pressure at any one given area in the cover. It is also dome
shaped instead of flat so that a person's back, stomach and buttocks has more difficulty covering the entire drain
cover. Below are examples of an older drain cover and a newer anti-vortex type cover.

Older type cover Anti-vortex cover Anti-vortex cover

Third, and the best way is to have multiple drains instead of one along with anti-vortex covers. With multiple drains, the
suction pressure at each one is greatly reduced and with them spread apart, someone could not cover them all. The
problem with this method, is that the pool should be constructed this way at construction and may be very expensive to
install additional drains after the pool is built. There is talk about passing laws requiring new pools to be constructed
this way.