Creating A More Beautiful Pool Area

Safety Features To Include In Your Pool Design

1 December 2017

Adrian Spencer

When you're getting ready to add a pool to your backyard, you need to make sure you also plan for how you'll keep everybody safe. With the right design and features, your pool can be a great spot to entertain without as much risk for injuries, especially injuries to children.

Here are some simple safety features you can add to your pool design to reduce accidents and liability so your pool can be enjoyed by friends and family alike. 

1. Zero-Depth Entry

While a zero-depth entry pool can be more costly to install, it's still a design strategy to consider, especially if your pool will often have very young visitors. Small children can play in the shallow water at the zero-depth portion of the pool, while older kids and adults enjoy the deeper water at the other end. There's less risk of drowning and if a small child should wander into the pool without supervision, there's a longer reaction time for adults before things become devastating. 

2. Transparent Fencing

A fence around your pool should be a given, and many people like the idea of a privacy fence so that people in the pool won't draw the eyes of the neighbors, but it's actually best to choose a fencing materials that allows people outside the pool to see and view what's going on. If you don't like the look of a plexi-glass panel for your fence, you might choose a mesh metal or wood lattice that still lets you see in. It's harder for a child or pet to get into the pool area unnoticed if the pool is visible from the house without the view obstructed by a fence. 

3. Inside Latch Gates

As an additional safety precaution, gates on your pool fence should open from the inside. Children learn quickly how to work latches, and they can let themselves throw a gate with a simple flip or slide latch. Have latches located on the inside and have them covered with a flap so the person who opens the gates has to lift the flap before accessing the latch. The two-step process as well as the reduced accessibility can limit the access of young children to the pool deck. 

4. Over Edge Covers

Many people use a simple blue bubble cover to keep the water clean while the pool is  not in use. However, these covers don't prevent accidental slips and falls into the pool, and they can make it harder somebody to stay above the surface of the water or shout for help. Instead of using a bubble cover, have a custom taut cover that pulls over the edges of the pool and is secured with anchors set into the ground. It may take longer to cover up your pool when not in use, but this way, a simple trip on the pool deck does not mean a fall into the water. The cover is taut and will catch whoever falls. As a bonus, your pool will stay cleaner and warmer. 

5. Built-in storage

You might not think of storage as a safety feature, but it actually can make a difference. When not in use, all pool toys like balls, noodles, and floating turtles should be put out of sight, out of mind in a storage box that is difficult for a child to open. When this bright stuff is just kept on the pool deck, it has a chance of falling back into the water, and small children are often drawn to these types of toys. When they're properly stored, every stays that much more safe.

For more information on designing with safety in mind, contact a local pool contractor. 

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