Vac-Alert

Pool Safety Council Investigation Reveals New Drain Covers Easy to Obtain

DESPITE RECENT REPORTS that Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act-compliant drain covers are hard to come by, an investigation by the Pool Safety Council found the situation is improving rapidly or is non-existent.

"Everybody's starting to step up," Wade Arens, co-founder of major drain manufacturer Aquastar Pool Products, said of himself and his colleagues. "It's getting better daily."

The Virginia Graeme Baker Act is named after former Secretary of State James Baker's granddaughter, who died after becoming entrapped on a residential spa's drain. Before opening in 2009, all public pools install approved safety drain covers. All single drain public pools must also install an anti-entrapment device, such as a Safety Vacuum Release System.

A rash of stories, including one in the Wall Street Journal, have surfaced around the country about public pool owners and operators having great difficulty finding drain covers that comply with the law. But over the course of two weeks, the Pool Safety Council spoke with top manufacturers of VGB-complaint drain covers and found they are experiencing either minor or no delays.

Arens admitted his company, which makes an assortment of VGB-compliant drain covers, was hit hard when the law when into effect Dec. 18. But while demand was so high at one point orders were backlogged six to eight weeks, Aquastar has already slashed their turnaround time. "If an order comes in [now,] we're getting it out in two-and-a-half weeks," Aren said. Aquastar has manufacturing facilities working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to meet demand, and the company has hired more than 40 new employees in the last month to help manufacture the drain covers.

Hayward Pool Products, one of the larger drain cover manufacturers, has no wait for smaller drain covers and no more than a week's backlog for larger drain covers, said Product ManagerJoe DiOrio. Like Aquastar and others, Hayward experienced a swell of demand around the time the Pool and Spa Safety Act went into effect, but DiOrio said the company is now handling the load without problems. "Demand is pretty much all caught up at this point," DiOrio said.

Todd Williams, project manager for Paddock Industries, Inc., said there is virtually no wait time to acquire their stock drain covers, which include large 20 by 20 inches and 24 by 24 inch size. Pool operators looking for large, custom made drains can expect a bit of lag time — Williams estimated custom orders to take about 3-6 weeks to complete — but that overall the company is handling the drain cover rush just fine. "We're going to easily be able to carry the load with no problems," Williams said.

Ron Schroader, whose Drain Safe/New Water Solutions company makes anti-entrapment covers for sumps between five and eight inches in diameter, said he only experienced a backlog for a short time as demand for the covers took off. "We ran out two days before Christmas," Schroader said, adding, "for two hours." Schroader, who hired his son to come on and help with the uptick in demand, said that as a pool professional, he was relieved the Act was in place. "I'm just really glad that people are staring to realize there are layers of protection out there," Schroader said. "And thanks to the CPSC it's finally starting to happen."

Though demand initially outweighed supply, local officials are not worried about being ready for the forthcoming outdoor pool season. Dave Long, citywide maintenance district manager for San Diego, California, said that while the larger drain covers public pools need have been hard to come by so far, he is confident the large number of outdoor pools expected to open when the weather warms up will do so on schedule. "We've been pretty
Safe drain covers successful," Long said. "We've been able to meet the requirement."

Once pool owners and operators have acquired the drain covers they need to comply with the Pool and Spa Safety Act, they can often use divers to install them and avoid draining their pools. One pool in San Diego, California, hired divers to perform the installation, but they ran into difficulties and the decision was made to drain the pool. That time-consuming process — coupled with a heating system that broke and needed repairs after the pool was drained — resulted in the pool being closed from Dec. 22 until Jan. 5, said pool manager Julie Jones.

Small drain cover manufacturers have run into few or no problems meeting demand. "We have not had any problems as far as supplying," Michael Marshall, director of sales and marketing for A and A Manufacturing said. A and A Manufacturing makes the Anti-Vortex Single Channel (AVSC) drain that measures about 7 by 31 inches. And Bob Spillar, president of marketing for the Balboa Water Group, said his company is meeting demand in the hot tub industry he caters to just fine. "We are not having any problems meeting demand in the hot tub industry," Spillar said. Balboa manufactures two- and three-inch drain covers for hot tub suction return fittings.

Aren admitted the new influx of business took him by surprise, but given the state of the nation's economy, he was not complaining. "It's a good problem to have," Aren said.

This article was brought to you by the Pool Safety Council.

Pool Safety Council
Dedicated to the Prevention of Child Drowning Nationwide
http://www.poolsafetyconsortium.org/