Swimming pools are such an awesome thing to have at any home. During the summer months, temperatures can soar and make it hard to cool down. But when you have a swimming pool, you can go and have a nice swim to cool yourself down a bit.
Even during the more milder times of the year, having your own swimming pool at home means that you can exercise by doing a few lengths of the pool each day, for example before work or even in the early evening to help get rid of any stress during your day.
But having a swimming pool also entails keeping up with certain responsibilities such as maintenance, upkeep and safety. Although pools are awesome places to hang out at, they can also be unsafe and potentially dangerous for people, in particular children, and also for pets too.
Here is a guide to help you keep your swimming pool area safe for one and all:
Swimming Pool Fences
Drowning is one of the biggest causes of accidental death for young children, and such tragic events occur mainly in private backyard swimming pools.
Thankfully you can help to lower the likelihood of such a thing happening to you by building a fence around your pool. Pool fencing is a legal requirement in all states and territories in Australia, and having a non-compliant pool fence can lead to hefty penalties!
The swimming pool fence must be secure and in good working order, and not be any higher than 10 centimetres from the ground. It will also need to be at least 1.2 metres high, and your boundary fence should be at least 1.8 metres high. Vertical gaps in the fencing must not be any wider than 100 millimetres apart.
It also goes without saying that the fence needs to be a permanent fixture.
Gates
You will obviously need to be able to enter and leave the pool area once it has been fenced off, so you will have to install a suitable gate for the purpose.
The law states that gates must swing outwards from the swimming pool area, be self-closing from any open position, and also it will need to be fitted with a latch which is at least 1.5 metres above ground level, safe enough to be out of reach from small children.
Filtration
Swimming pools that are in the ground or are above-ground need to have a water recirculation and filtration system which is Australian Standards compliant. This is to ensure that the risk of young children being trapped by suction is minimised.
Safety Around The Swimming Pool Area
Children can be very inquisitive, and will attempt to access the pool area by using any garden furniture or other items nearby to give them a foothold for climbing over the pool fencing.
It is vitally important that any pool aids and toys be stored away somewhere secure and out of view, and that any objects they can use to climb over the fence be removed from the vicinity.
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