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Smart Choices

Swimming Pool Safety


Photo of children playing in a pool.

Portable pools Kids love water, so setting up a small backyard pool is a favorite summertime activity. The Consumer Product Safety Commission offers these tips to keep your children safe around water:

  • Empty and put away smaller portable pools after every use.

  • Once the pool is set up, keep close so you provide constant supervision. A tragedy can happen in just moments.

  • Fence portable pools and encourage your neighbors with pools to do the same.

  • Cover larger portable pools and put access ladders away when adults are not present (make sure they are fenced in, also).

  • Install alarms on doors leading from the house to the pool area to alert you when someone enters the pool area.

  • Teach children to swim, float and other basic life-saving skills; however, do not consider them “drown-proof” because they have had swimming lessons.

  • Make sure your neighbors, babysitters and visitors know about the pool’s presence in your yard.

  • Learn and practice CPR so you can help in an emergency.


Pool electrical safety Whether your pool is a tiny portable blow-up, a hot tub or a full-size inground pool, electricity and water don’t mix. These tips from Safe Electricity will help you keep the two separated for safety:

  • Keep anything that is plugged in at least 5 feet from the pool. The farther, the better.

  • Have a licensed contractor inspect the pool or hot tub wiring to ensure it meets code requirements.

  • Know where electrical switches and circuit breakers are and how to operate them.

  • Keep pool skimmers and other far-reaching tools more than 10 feet away from overhead power lines.

  • Make sure all outdoor outlets are GFCI protected. Test them once a month.

  • Do not touch electrical devices when you are wet or in contact with wet surfaces. Note that this includes cell phones when they are plugged into a charger.

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