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New Commercial Pool Drain Covers
8" Round Low-Profile |
9" Square Retrofit to Low-Profile with 8" Anti-Entrapment Suction Outlet Cover |
A new bill, effective December 2008, now requires all commercial—all public, hotel and apartment—swimming pools to comply with installing new safety drains. Aqua Palace stocks the legally mandated “anti-entrapment” pool drain cover for commercial swimming pools.
The bill, the Virginia Graeme-Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2007, is named after the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James A. Baker III. Baker’s granddaughter drowned in 2002 when she was entrapped by the suction of the pool drain.This bill enacts stronger standards within the pool industry prohibiting the manufacturing, sale, or distribution of drain covers that do not comply with the new safety standards. Specifically, all of the drain covers on all commercial swimming pools must be ASME and VGB compliant.
The root cause of this issue is the vacuum force at the pool drain created by the pool pump. The strong suction can cause a swimmer to become entrapped—held down against the pool drain—causing them to drown.
While the intention has been to simply eliminate future tragedies, the bill and the issues surrounding the new regulations have become complicated even for anyone working in the pool and spa industry.If a drain cover hasn’t been replaced recently, the chances are good that there is a problem with compliance. “I can almost assure you that if you haven’t purchased a drain cover in the past year, the drain cover is not compliant,” explains Scott Rolenc, owner of Aqua Palace. The new “anti-entrapment” drain covers must meet or exceed NSF 50/ASME/ANSI/A1112.19.8-2007 national standards and ASTM G154 UV testing.
For any questions regarding the specifics of this bill and the compliant drain covers required for public, hotel and apartment swimming pools contact Aqua Palace Spas & Pool. Call 712-329-4180 or send an e-mail to aquapalace@aol.com. You can also get more detail on our blog article “Need a Graeme Baker Compliant Pool Drain Cover?” at http://www.omahapoolbuilder.com/?p=16