As you may or may not be aware, on December 19, 2007, President Bush signed into law what is known as the “Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act”. Basically, this is legislation that requires that all public swimming pool owners provide a means to eliminate the possibility of bather entrapment at the main drain. Many senseless drownings occur every year because of entrapment issues.

Before getting into any specifics of the law, I want to stress just how serious the Federal Government is about this legislation. Failure to come into compliance with this Act by December 19, 2008 could result in fines up to $1,800,000.00 and/or jail time. That is not a misprint. It is 1.8 Million dollars!

As is common in this industry, there are standards by which all equipment is regulated, especially equipment used on commercial pools. Equipment used to bring your facility into compliance with this law cannot be home-made or purchased from any manufacturer whose product does not meet ASME/ANSI standards. This is a real point of contention in the industry; as manufacturers are rushing to meet the deadline so that end users can be in compliance in time. There is still a major lack of approved equipment available on the market.

To be specific, the law requires:

• 1. Drain Cover Standard - “each swimming pool or spa drain cover manufactured, distributed, or entered into commerce in the United States shall conform to the entrapment protection standards of the ASME/ANSI A112.19.8 performance standard, or any successor standard regulating such swimming pool or drain cover.”
• 2. “each public pool and spa in the United States shall be equipped with anti-entrapment devices or systems that comply with the ASME/ANSI A112.19.8 performance standard, or any successor standard; and each public pool and spa in the United States with a single main drain other than an unblockable drain shall be equipped, at a minimum, with 1 or more of the following devices or systems designed to prevent entrapment by pool or spa drains that meets the requirement of [ASME/ANSI] performance standard if there is such a standard for such a device or system, or any applicable consumer product safety standard.”
  • a. Safety Vacuum Release System – A safety vacuum release system which ceases operation of the pump, reverses the flow, or otherwise provides a vacuum release at a suction outlet when a blockage is detected, that has been tested by an independent third party and found to conform to ASME/ANSI standard A112.19.17 or ASTM standard F2387.
  • b. Suction-Limiting Vent System – A suction-limiting vent system with a tamper-resistant atmospheric opening.
  • c. Gravity Drainage System – A gravity drainage system that utilizes a collector tank.
  • d. Automatic Pump Shutoff System – An automatic pump shut-off system.
  • e. Drain Disablement – A device or system that disables the drain.
  • f. Other Systems – Any other system determined by the Commission to be equally effective as, or better than, the systems described in sections (a) through (e) of this clause at preventing or eliminating the risk of injury or death associated with pool drainage systems.”
  
  
  These requirements apply to:
• 1. “A swimming pool or spa that is:
  • a. open to the public generally, whether for a fee or free of charge;
  • b. open exclusively to
    • i. members of an organization and their guests;
    • ii. residents of a multi-unit apartment building, apartment complex, residential real estate decelopment, or other multi-family residential area (other than a municipality, township, or other local government jurisdiction); or
    • iii. patron of a hotel or other public accommodations facility; or
    • iv. operated by the Federal Government (or by a concessionaire on behalf of members of the Armed Forces and their dependents or employees of any department or agency and their dependents.”

Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC)
4330 East West Highway
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: (301) 504-7923

Association of Pool & Spa Professionals (APSP, formerly NSPI)
2111 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite 500
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: (703) 838-0083
Website: www.apsp.org

Pennsylvania Department of Health – NW Regional Division
Mr. Ben Zimmer, Sanitarian
25 McQuiston Drive
Jackson Center, PA 16133
Phone: (724) 662-4000
Email: bezimmer@state.pa.us

Pennsylvania Department of Health – SW Regional Division
Mr. Perry Fox, Sanitarian
233 West Otterman Street
Greensburg, PA 15601
Phone (724) 830-2701
Email: pfox@state.pa.us

Ohio Department of Health
246 North High Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-1390