Swimming pools are a great way to have fun and cool off in New Orleans; however, safety should always be your primary concern. Having your very own backyard swimming pool can be a blessing for any homeowner in New Orleans but this same swimming pool can also be unsafe for young kids and even pets.
Enjoy Your Pool (Safely) In New Orleans
You shouldn’t let this deter you from enjoying your current backyard pool or having your dream pool built. There are more than a few ways that you can make your backyard pool area safer for you, your kids, and your animal companions. Let’s take a look at the two most effective safety measures!
Get A Pool Safety Cover
Pool safety covers are often overlooked by homeowners everywhere, not just in New Orleans. This disregard for pool safety covers is oftentimes not directly intentional. Rather it is an oversight that is born out of a lack of knowledge. What do we mean by this? Simple, solar pool covers and winter pool covers are not generally classified as safety pool covers. These solar pool covers and winter pool covers do not have the capacity to carry the weight of an adult (or even a child for that matter). To be classified as a pool safety cover your pool cover has to have the ability to carry no less than 485 lbs. per 5 sq. ft.
Safety pool covers are available for in ground and above ground swimming pools. If you have small children or pets then having a safety pool cover is absolutely essential in the off season months when your pool won’t be seeing as much use. All it takes is for you to turn away for a couple of seconds and your child could be trying to take a dip into an unattended swimming pool or walk across a flimsy solar pool cover or winter pool cover. There are two types of safety pool covers; solid and mesh. Mesh safety swimming pool covers are durable and easier to maintain; however, water, snow, and tiny debris can pass through it. Solid pool covers are more aesthetically appealing and debris, water, and snow collect on top. However, water and snow that collects on top can be a potential hazard for young children.
Get Perimeter Pool Safety Fencing
Numerous cities have started implementing strict swimming pool fencing standards whenever swimming pools are now being built. However, if your city or town does not press the issue you should still strongly consider getting perimeter pool safety fencing, especially if you have kids.
If you are going to invest in pool safety fencing then there a couple things that you should keep in mind, such as the height and the locking mechanism. In fact, the Consumer Product and Safety Commission (CPSC) states that the recommended height for pool safety fencing should be no less than 48 inches (this applies to pools all across the country, not just New Orleans). The CPSC also recommends that child resistant gates that are self-closing and self-latching should be used.
