Is Your Main Drain Safety Compliant?

Is Your Main Drain Safety Compliant?

Everyone loves to swim in a swimming pool and enjoy a relaxing day outdoors. However, there can be some dangers associated with a swimming pool that is not commonly thought about, like entrapment. Entrapment issues are not nearly as common today as they have been in the past. Entrapment issues generally arise due to swimming pool main drain covers not being up to code or properly installed.

No matter how safe you think you are, every family benefits from adding new safety steps to their routine at the pool or spa. These additional safety steps could prove especially useful when it comes to entrapment hazards. A drain entrapment occurs when a body is held against a pool or spa drain by the force of the pool’s suction or when an article of clothing, jewelry, hair or a limb is caught in a faulty drain.

Children’s public wading pools, other pools designed specifically for young children, and in-ground spas that have flat drain grates and single main drain systems pose the greatest risk of entrapment. The VGB act requires all commercial swimming pools to have a VGB-compliant drain cover. Commercial properties are required to have these covers, while residential pools do not have anyone to enforce this as a requirement.

It is equally important for residential swimming pools to have the proper VGB compliant covers. If your swimming pool has been renovated in recent years it is likely that you have updated covers. The covers have a lifespan ranging from three to seven years before they have to be replaced. Make sure to ask if your swimming pool main drain covers are going to be replaced with newly approved VGB main drain covers. Again, if you are unsure if your swimming pool main drain covers are up to code, find your local ASP - America's Swimming Pool Company professional, visit our locations page and make the call today! We would be happy to come take a look for you.