CPSC to test pool: safety products

Pool & Spa News, Oct 15, 2004 by Bob Dumas

The U.S, Consumer Product Safety Commission has completed a facility that will allow it to test safety vacuum release systems to the ASTM International and ASME/ ANSI standards.

The new structure, located near CPSC's headquarters outside Bethesda, Md., also will be used to test drain covers and their compliance to the current ASME/ANSI A112.19.8M standard and to evaluate proposed revisions to that standard. To a lesser degree, it will help CPSC evaluate pool alarms.

"We want to test what is out there on the market and advise folks if they are effective and see if they meet the standards," said Eric Criss, CPSC director of public affairs.

The testing results are not necessarily revealed to the public, Criss explained, but are shared with the standard-writing bodies and manufacturers.

"This is the most significant pool safety products investment that we've ever made," he added. "It's a pretty interesting project."

The project came about because CPSC had grown more concerned about drownings and held two hearings on the issue earlier this past summer. Until the Commission built this facility, it had no resources to check a pool safety product when someone complained that the item didn't meet the required standards, Criss said.

"It's a big issue," he noted. "You go to these hearings and hear [drowning] stories, and it just rips your heart out. We see 250 kids drown each year, so we have to look at pool alarms, suction entrapment products and drains."

But, Criss said, such devices are "just a piece of the puzzle. The other piece is education, working with the first responders. We believe these are preventable tragedies."

The testing facility features two 800-gallon holding tanks and approximately 200 feet of plumbing. CPSC officials hope to begin performing some preliminary tests this month.

Officials at the National Spa & Pool Institute said they welcome CPSC's involvement in its industry's product testing.

"It's a great thing. Any time we have an opportunity to look at new technical advances it is a plus," said Carvin DiGiovanni, NSPI's senior director of technical education and government relations. "It will give the marketplace a place to go to have products tested to make sure they do what the manufacturers say they do."