San Mateo brings pool up to snuff with new law
By: Will Reisman
March 26, 2009
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| Take a dip: Joinville Swim Center in San Mateo is used by about 4,000 people a year. (Juan Carlos Pometta Betancourt/Special to The Examiner) |
SAN MATEO — Just in time for warm weather, the city is upgrading its public swimming pool to meet standards required by a new federal law.
Passed in December, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act — named after former Secretary of State James Baker’s daughter, who drowned in 2002 — requires that every pool in the country be fitted with special drain covers to prevent injuries, and possibly death.
The act was signed after nine people, mostly children between the ages of 5 and 9 years old, drowned between 1999 and 2007 as a result of drainage systems in pools, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal group that enforces the law.
The heavy vacuum levels in the pool drains where the deaths occurred sucked the children underwater, according to the commission.
After waiting on parts from the manufacturer for a few months, the Joinville Swim Center, at 2111 Kehoe Ave., was scheduled to close Wednesday to make the necessary upgrades. The public facility is expected to reopen today or Friday, according to aquatics director Cheri Mingst.
The Joinville pool is visited annually by about 4,000 people, Mingst said.
She was unable to give specifics about the upgrades, but the pool-safety act stipulates that each drain be equipped with a compliant cover and an anti-vacuum release that activates if an object or person is caught in the drain.
Nationwide, many public swimming sites have yet to be fitted with the equipment, according to industry groups, who say municipalities were given too little time to comply, and manufacturers of drain covers and pumps were not able to keep up with heavy demand due to the new law. Additionally, the high cost of retrofitting some pools has also created problems.
The United States has nearly 300,000 public pools, with nearly half in California, Florida and Texas, according to industry figures.
