Unsafe Conditions In Your Pool
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When is a pool not safe to swim in? This article aims to explain some of the times (and reasons why) your swimming pool should be closed to swimmers. This is not an exhaustive list and definitely you can have something not named here on this list which also makes your pool unsafe. This is just some of the more common reasons why you might need to temporarily close your pool to swimmers. When it comes to swimming pools safety needs to be the number one priority. This is why I so strongly encourage pool owners to avoid "cool" things like strings of lights hanging over the pool or bubble parties...you can read more of these examples here in this list of 9 Awesome things you should totally not do to your pool.
Pools are actually pretty dangerous. It bothers me to say this because of course I am a pool and spa professional and have spent my entire life working in this industry. I wish I could tell you that pools are totally safe and people hardly ever get hurt or die in swimming pools, but that would be a lie. Pools are dangerous. Accidents can happen and they happen quicker than you imagine that they could, unfortunately. In order to make your pool safe you need to actively secure the pool area, restrict access to children, pets or neighborhood kids, install self closing fences which are also unclimbable in nature, window and door alarms to the pool area. There are a lot of things you can and should do to protect your pool area and reduce the risk for an accident. But aside from this standard protocol of things you should do to protect your pool area, the following list are less obvious reasons (to some people) why a pool should be closed.
Can I swim if there is lightning? - The presence of lightning, or even thunder which indicates the presence of lightning, means the pool is closed and you should evacuate the pool area. Pools are a direct pathway to ground via the equipotential bonding grid and grounding system, and if mother nature decides that she needs to balance her electrons, the last place you want to be is anywhere around your pool, and especially not in the water. It can be frustrating if there is thunder and not a lot of sign of lightning, but this falls squarely under "better safe than sorry" so leave the pool area until the weather improves and the risk of lightning has passed. Even a nearby lightning strike can cause dangerous currents to pass through the ground and your pool. It does not even need to be a direct lightning strike to the pool itself. If there is any sign of lightning, the pool is closed.
Fecal contamination in swimming pools - In the video below I actually talk about this problem first, but as a comment on the YouTube video suggested, this reason to close your pool should be #2. If there is a fecal contamination in your pool then everyone should get out of the water. Fortunately, unlike other potential problems with the pool area, this one is not too hard to enforce. Usually after a fecal contamination the pool will clear out in record time. Scoop the offending matter, if possible. A free chlorine count of 2ppm is enough to combat the contaminants in the water almost on contact, but perhaps give yourself a grace hour with the filtration system running to ease your mind a little. If the contamination is not solid form, and is unscooptable, then increase the free chlorine count to 20ppm free chlorine and do not swim until the next day at minimum. If the free chlorine count is still high the next day, wait longer for it to drop below 5 ppm free chlorine, or go and buy some chlorine eliminator from your local pool and spa store. Be careful with this sodium thiosulfate product. Use only what you need to lower the chlorine levels, as too much will make it hard to build your chlorine levels back up after.
Getting shocked from a swimming pool - If you can feel a shock in or around your swimming pool, like when you touch the water or touch the handrail of the pool, this is absolutely a dangerous situation. Even if the shock feels mild this is a serious problem, and the pool must be closed to all swimmers until it can be diagnosed and repaired. The fact that the shock is minor is irrelevant. When a pool is built properly, which includes an equipotential bonding grid, it is not possible to experience a shock. This is why the bonding grid is present. So to have a shock of any strength indicates a missing bonding grid, or failed bonding grid. In any case the only line of protection you have in the pool against electrocution is gone. Any shock means there is an electrical imbalance between two different components in the pool system, which is not possible when the bonding grid is present. So a shock from your pool is as serious of a situation as you can have, and the relatively minor nature of the shock is not the point. The entire pool should be closed. It is not enough to just avoid the shocking area, like a ladder for example. It is possible the whole pool is actually energized, and the shocking you feel is the pool attempting to ground through you. Very, very bad.
Why cloudy pool water should close your pool - If you can not see clearly to the bottom of your swimming pool then how could you see a person in distress under the water, or even a drowned person on the floor of the pool? The answer is that you could not. This is why a pool with turbidity should be closed. In addition to the problem with being able to see through the water, the turbid pool water also means there is a fundamental problem with the water chemistry since a properly balanced pool should never be cloudy, green or anything other than clear. Listen to the video here to hear a story about the dangers of turbid water.
There are plenty of other reasons to close a pool also. Broken glass in the pool, something wrong with the chemistry like very high or very low pH levels, green water, or any form of water quality problems really...it is not as hard as you think to get sick from poorly maintained pool and spa water. There are also many hidden dangers that you might not be able to see, like the presence of GFI protection on the pump and lighting circuits, unsafe underwater suction outlets, pumps which are too powerful for the pipe size, skimmers and main drains and many more things.
If you find yourself concerned about the safety of your pool then perhaps it would be a good investment for you to reach out to a local pool and spa company to come out and inspect your pool for dangers or deficiencies that you might not be able to spot on your own. You can also explore the Ask Steve swimming pool consulting service if you need a professional opinion on what to do with your possibly unsafe pool situation. You can simply not be too careful when it comes to swimming pools.
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Swimming Pool Steve is an award winning, second generation swimming pool specialist from Ontario Canada and one of the most trusted voices in the swimming pool industry. With over 20,000,000 views on the Swimming Pool Steve YouTube Channel, winner of the Pleatco Pool & Spa Industry Leadership award and author of hundreds of pool and spa articles both online and in print. Steve is committed to helping pool and spa owners as well as pool and spa industry workers learn more about the technical side of building, renovating, repairing and maintaining all types of swimming pools and spas. Follow Swimming Pool Steve on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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