A Dangerous Gap in Pool Safety

We all need to know about the dangers of swimming pools. If you have never heard of Abigail Taylor understanding who she was will help reinforce what I am talking about today. Abigail Taylor was the six year old girl who got caught on an unprotected swimming pool drain in the wading pool at the Minneapolis Golf Club. She ultimately died from her injuries.

The issue regarding pool safety deals with compliance to a new law requiring pools to retrofit their drains. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal the bulk of public swimming pools in this country are in violation of a new public safety rule that is aimed at preventing an Abigail issue from happening again. According to the National Swimming Pool Foundation nearly 80% of the country's roughly 300,000 public pools and spas located in communities, hotels and fitness centers still need to retrofit their pools to meet the new safety requirements. That's over 240,000 pools!

The article in the Wall Street Journal does a nice job describing the issue and what you should look for. Do yourself a favor and spend a few minutes reading this article. Make sure you and your family understand the issue at hand. We really don't want to hear about a drain pool tragedy ever again. Here's the link to the story.