Safety Tips

Accidents do happen

3 April 2014

For those who have or have had small children, dealing with accidents is not something you are unfamiliar with. What you might not have had to think about before is the possibility of a toilet-related incident occurring whilst your child (or even someone else’s!) is in the pool.
Would you know what to do if this happened? The idea can bring a comical visual to mind, however it can be less than amusing in real life. Never fear, we have a basic overview to help you deal with an accident.

Little Accidents Can Happen. Dealing With A Little Problem

Prevention is the best way to approach the issue; preventing accidents could be as simple as supervising your children at all times and taking them for regular bathroom breaks while they are swimming. Special swimming nappies are also available for those concerned that their child is not toilet-trained.

Swimmers should also take care not to swallow any of the pool water, as the water can carry harmful bacteria.

What to do when an incident does occur:

Get everyone out of the pool immediately. The pool will be off limits until it has been properly disinfected
Remove as much of the faecal matter as possible with a net or bucket (Remember to disinfect this item as well)

Disinfecting the pool

1. Dose your pool to raise the free chlorine level to 2ppm
2. Keep the pH at 7.5 or less (test the water if you aren’t sure what the level might be)
3. Leave the pool for at least 30 minutes.
4. Make sure your filtration system is running during this period.

NOTE: These guidelines apply to standard faecal incidents;
if diarrhoea is involved, the free chlorine levels need to be raised to 20ppm,
the pool needs to remain closed for at least 13 hours
and the filter needs to be backwashed and media replaced.