Occasionally, gruesome stories emerge of children getting their hair stuck in swimming pool grates and drowning. Can you just plunge into any swimming pool?
‘Suction entrapment’ is a well-known term among swimming pool operators. Publicly accessible swimming pools in municipalities are subject to annual inspections, as stipulated in the Dutch Law on Hygiene and Safety of Bathing Facilities and Swimming Locations (Whvbz). These inspections also assess the suction force of the water purification system.
In swimming pools, the water is continuously filtered through a water circulation system. In modern swimming pools, the water usually ripples over the edge and flows into a gutter, after which the water is filtered. In older swimming pools, this filtering often occurs via grates on the bottom or side. Behind the grates, the water is sucked away by a pump.
These grates are potential culprits. The suction force of the pump behind the grate can be too strong, causing a body to be vacuumed onto such a grate. Modern swimming pools often use spherical or pyramid-shaped grates, which virtually eliminate this entrapment.
If long hair gets into the holes of the grate, it can become entangled behind the grate. The only thing you can do then is quickly cut off the hair, and certainly do not try to pull the swimmer loose with all your might.
A stick with a tail
Appliances such as mushroom fountains, water-spouting frogs, and massage fountains are points of attention. Geurts van Kessel: “The girl who drowned in France last week was most likely the victim of such a suction grate at a mushroom. According to reports, this was a modern swimming pool at a five-star campsite with water attractions, truly a paradise for children. A ‘child-friendly’ resort is what it’s called; which is absolutely not the same as ‘safe’.”
“To get a beautiful plume of water from such a mushroom, water must be sucked up, and sometimes the suction grates of such a device are still in the ground. The chance that you get stuck or get your hair stuck is still there. It goes well 99 times out of 100. Until it goes wrong again.”
Why doesn’t every swimming pool have an emergency button to shut everything down immediately? Geurts van Kessel: “Unfortunately, that is not always effective. After switching off the pump, an underpressure may be present in the pipes, so the vacuum is not immediately gone. That won’t save you if you’re stuck.”