Your pool should be a safe space for everyone, family, friends or children. Pools can be a lot to get your head around, from chemicals, to heating to pumps, and sometimes we fail to make them as safe as they can be. Below are some ways you can make your pool area safer and reduce the chance of accidents.
Setting up a Fence
With any pool, it is recommended that you install a safety fence around its perimeter, and ideally you should opt for a general contractor to safely and efficiently set this up. Consider installing a pool safety fence with a minimum of 48-inches (122cm) in height, with both a self-closing and self-latching child-resistant gates. This ensures the dual benefits of child safety and the reduction of unwanted debris in your pool, aiding in pool maintenance. When it comes to fencing in a pool, you need to check with your local municipality and consult with your pool installer to make sure you comply with laws and guidelines.
Installing a Pool Alarm
There’s a plethora of different pool alarms and they come in multiple shapes and sizes with varying functions. They can be grouped into four standard categories; gate alarms, wearable alarms, pressure sensitive alarms and perimeter alarms.
Gate Alarms, as the name suggests are attached to your entry to your pool area, creating a magnetic field once turned on. If the magnetic field is broken by the gate opening, the alarm will sound. These alarms can be used as home alarms on your doors too.
Wearable Alarms can be used for your children and require adult supervision. Your child wears the alarm on their wrist, and it sounds the alarm upon contact with water. Aside from your personal pool use, this can be used at the beach or a public pool to ensure your child’s safety.
Pressure Sensitive Alarms sense pressure waves. For example, if someone was to fall in the pool, the alarm would trip. The alarm unit sits on the edge of your pool, with a long tube with a sensor in the water. When someone or something over 18lbs (8kg) goes into the pool, the sensor will detect the wave and sound the alarm.
Perimeter Alarms, popularly known as invisible fences, are set up around the pool, creating a laser trip wire field, which trips the alarm when broken. Perimeter Alarms have the dual function of scaring off small animals from getting in or near your pool.
Using a Safety Cover
Safety covers aren’t always the most aesthetically pleasing, but their benefit outweighs their look, especially when the temperature falls in the fall and winter time. Safety covers can hold some weight, a small child for example, which can be a lifesaver. These covers are available for both in and above ground pools.
Pool Safety Equipment
We see pool safety equipment all the time at public pools, water parks and the beach, but which of these items do you need for your home pool? Investing in these can keep your pool area safer:
- Reach Pole, seen hanging on the walls of pools or in the hands of the local lifeguard, these are medium to long length poles to reach out to a swimmer in distress from the safety of the poolside.
- Shepherd’s Hook, a metal loop to attach to a pole, the hook can be wrapped around the swimmer’s garments or body to pull them to safety.
- Life Saver, the classic buoyancy aid, normally in red and white striped variations. This circular floatation device can be thrown to the swimmer for them to grab onto, they are available in both roped and standard styles.
Here at WiFi Pool Solutions, we know pools. We’ve owned pools, we’ve serviced pools, we’ve been immersed in the pool industry for most of our careers.
That is why we knew that a product like the HeaterReader™ didn’t exist and why we knew it was needed.
The HeaterReader™ is a smart wireless automation device that gives you control over your swimming pool's heater and pump, from anywhere in the world, using our IOS or Android mobile app or from your computer.
