Contact between human skin and a flat pool drain can create suction equal to hundreds of pounds of pressure. In one horrific instance, four adult men were unable to pull a young girl from the grasp of a deadly drain. Swimmers can die from drowning or evisceration.
The family of a 6-year-old girl whose intestines were partially sucked out by a Minnesota swimming pool drain last year says the child has died. A 6-year-old girl whose intestines were partially sucked out by a swimming pool drain, leading to tougher safety legislation, has died, her family's attorney said Friday.
Pool drain accidents refer to drain entrapment. Drain entrapment occurs when a drain's powerful suction traps a child's hair, bathing suit or body parts. Drain entrapment can cause serious and fatal injuries, including broken bones, lacerations, internal organ damage, drowning and brain damage.
Are Pool Drains Dangerous? Pool drains can be very dangerous. Because they have an immense amount of suction behind them in order to drain the pool and allow the water to be filtered. Because the pressure of the suction can be up to 700 pounds, if a person gets too close to the drain it can impossible to remove them.
Pool suction drain injury, also known as suction entrapment, occurs when the drain of a wading pool, swimming pool, or hot tub suck in a swimmer's jewelry, torso, limbs, hair or buttocks. Evisceration, also known as disembowelment, could happen in case of buttock entrapment.
Entrapment occurs when someone becomes stuck to a drain or suction fitting in a pool or spa, either from water suction, or from getting stuck in an opening— even if the pumps are turned off. It is a serious potential hazard, particularly for children, who are too small to break away.
They're Also A Health Risk. Blocked drains smell foul and if left untreated, are a health risk and can cause major structural damage, so imagine living next to open sewage for 15 years! Blocked drains can create serious problems, not only to your property, but also to your health.
Most of the dirt and debris that sinks exits the pool through these drains. To keep people from getting their hair or limbs caught in the plumbing, the drains are almost always covered with grates or antivortex covers (a cover that diverts the flow of water to prevent a dangerous vortex from forming).
Instead, it is an outlet, housing a pipe that runs to the pump, which sucks water through a skimmer, then through a filter, then through a heater (if you have one), and then back to the pool via multiple inlets. Most pools have two main drains, but a small pool may have only one.
A teenager required life-saving surgery after his intestines were sucked out by a swimming pool filter. It is understood the horrific accident took place when the 14-year-old became trapped in the purifier of a Spanish pool while playing a game, according to The Daily Mail.
Do not drain pool or spa water into your septic system, as it may cause system failure. Make sure the water is not cloudy, the pH is neutralized, and the chlorine or other disinfectant residual is below 0.1 milligrams/liter (parts per million).
If ground water is not a problem a pool can be left empty for weeks or even months as long the hydrostatic relief in the bottom of the pool is open and functioning. If the time frame of the pool being empty gets into freezing weather there is real risk of freeze-thaw damage to surface of the pool.
Flooding Your Grass Is Not A Good Idea
The problem with draining your pool in the yard, if permitted by your local water regulatory laws, is that it will quickly reach its saturation level and increase the risk of flooding your lawn, drowning the roots of your grass, and attracting mosquitoes.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the pressure on some pool drains can be as strong as 300 pounds per square inch. 1 This kind of pressure can suck in hair or body parts, or trap swimmers underwater and cause them to drown, even if someone is trying to pull a victim away from the drain.
Storm drains are untreated water, so there is a real risk of what you might encounter down there. Exposing your skin and clothes to drains can put you at risk to picking up nasty bugs such as e coli bacteria, swimmers itch, fungal infections and a plethora of other rashes, ailments, and overall unpleasant experiences.
When is it safe to go into a pool after it's shocked? In general, it's recommended that you wait up to 24 hours to hop into a pool after it's been shocked, depending on the size of the pool, Alan says.
Other than completely removing the suction outlet, experts say ways to avoid entrapment and entanglement include using gravity-flow systems, suction outlets with return inlets, removable outlet covers, dual-drain arrangements, anti-vortex drain covers or pumps designed to eliminate direct suction.
Electrocution can occur from contact with power lines, contact with energized sources such as faulty equipment or exposed wires and improper extension cord usage. Both overhead and underground power lines carry a high voltage. The best way to avoid electrocution from power lines is to simply stay away from them.
One might be afraid of the pool drain because of the underwater suction, and our experience with such things as bath drains and flushing toilets, which can create the mind image of drain suction trapping our bodies beneath the water.
Fencing off your pool.
If someone becomes entrapped in a pool drain, the CPSC recommends immediately turning off the pump. Don't try to pull the person away—instead, insert fingers or a small object between the drain and the person's body to break the seal and then roll them off until they're free.
Given just weeks to live, Salma's family travelled to the US for life-saving surgery not available in Egypt. Instead, her transplant was rejected from her body and Salma now receives all her nutrients via a TPN tube.