WKRN, Nashville, Tennessee News, Weather, and Sports |Mid-State public pools fail to meet new standards
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A new federal law will keep several Mid-State pools from opening as scheduled this Memorial Day weekend.
The law requires all public pools, whirlpools and wading pools to install safety filter covers on drains and in some pools, that hasn't happened.
At Nashville Shores, Andrew Chafatelli said more than $50,000 was spent to getting their pools in compliance.
"We've never had a problem at Nashville Shores but over the past 20 years, [there has] been more than 100 injuries and 34 deaths," he told News 2.
The law requiring covers was passed after suction from drains disemboweled several children sitting on them in shallow pools for children or wading pools.
The YMCA of Middle Tennessee has installed the new drain covers on all but two outdoor pools.
The outdoor pools at the Maddox Family YMCA in east Nashville and the Donelson YMCA will not open this weekend as scheduled.
Parts have been ordered and the Maddox YMCA will open by May 29. YMCA officials said the Donelson YMCA's outdoor pool will open soon after Memorial Day.
In Metro, of the city's 10 pools, only one or two have the filter covers.
Despite that, Christopher Michie with Metro's Public Health Department said the pools will open as scheduled.
He said health inspectors visit every public pool once a month and inspect a number of things, including the drain covers.
He said they are confident the pools are safe.
The new regulation does now fall under the authority of local health departments but will be enforced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Chafatelli said doesn't expect places like apartment complexes or country clubs to receive inspections from the CPSC but said it's the insurance companies who will enforce it.
Read more about the regulation on the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Web site.
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