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CDC: Safety, health violations lead to thousands of public pool closures
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A recent report in MMWR found that the vast majority of routine public pool inspections identified at least one violation, while one in eight inspections resulted in immediate closure due to serious health or safety threats at pools across the United States.
“No one should get sick or hurt when visiting a public pool, hot tub, water playgrounds or any other aquatic venues,” Beth Bell, MD, MPH, director of the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, said during a news conference. “Good health and safety practices at aquatic venues include — having adequate disinfectant and pH in the water to prevent outbreaks linked to swimming in pools and other aquatic venues, and having lifeguards or appropriate safety equipment available to prevent drowning.”
Beth Bell
The investigators analyzed data from 16 health departments in Arizona, California, Florida, New York and Texas. The data were gathered using the CDC’s Network for Aquatic Facility Inspection Surveillance. To determine adherence to public health and safety codes, the investigators identified 15 elements from the Model Aquatic Health Code related to infectious diseases disinfection, safety equipment and pool chemical safety. According to the report, these data were not nationally representative; however, 15.7% of the public pools in the U.S. are located within the 16 health departments studied.
Results of the investigation showed that during 2013, there were 84,187 routine public pool inspections conducted at 48,632 locations. Of the 78.5% of inspections that included data on immediate closure, 12.3% were immediately closed because of at least one violation. The investigators noted that immediate closures included 11.8% of pools and 15.1% of hot tubs. Further, 22% of kiddie pools or wading pools were closed immediately due to violations.
Michael Beach
Disinfection violations made up 11.9% of all violations. The investigators stated that these violations represented a risk for water-related outbreaks of infectious diseases. According to Michael Beach, PhD, associate director for Healthy Water at the CDC, three-quarters of outbreaks are caused by the parasite, Cryptosporidium, which is resistant to chlorine and other pool maintenance measures. However, Beach said the remaining incidents of outbreaks are caused by easily preventable infectious diseases.
“The other quarter of outbreaks that we see are traditional ones such as Shigella, Campylobacter, E. coli, that are quite chlorine-sensitive,” Beach said during the news conference. “That indicates to us that [those infections are caused by] very poor pool operation. Generally, the sorts of things we’re looking for in these inspections. You don’t have chlorine, the pH is way off. Those sorts of things where you can now spread a germ that should be taken care of by good pool operation.”
Micheal Beach testing pool water.
Source: CDC
The remaining violations were related to safety issues (12.7%) and chemical safety violations (4.6%). Bell said that safety violations often included lack of a rescue ring with rope to save swimmers. According to Beach, other safety and health violations are easy for swimmers to check themselves, such as making sure the drain is visible at the bottom of the pool — indicating the water is clear enough for lifeguards to see swimmers.
“Check for the results of state or local public aquatic venue inspections online or onsite before getting in the water,” Beach said. “The results might be found on the health department’s website, but it varies state to state. Every family can check for inspection results and do their own quick but effective inspection to help protect themselves and their loved ones this summer and year round.” – by David Costill
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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