By PETER SUR By PETER SUR ADVERTISING Tribune-Herald staff writer The county Department of Parks and Recreation is finally complying with a federal law mandating the replacement of swimming pool drain covers by December 2008. The county announced last Friday
By PETER SUR
Tribune-Herald staff writer
The county Department of Parks and Recreation is finally complying with a federal law mandating the replacement of swimming pool drain covers by December 2008.
The county announced last Friday the closure of the NAS Pool and the Sparky Kawamoto Swim Stadium in Hilo.
The Pahala Pool may be closed for work beginning May 4, the Konawaena Swimming Pool is set to close May 12 and the Kona Community Aquatic Center Pool is scheduled to remain open through May 21. Each of the closures will take around 10 days or more.
In 2007, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, named after the 7-year-old girl who drowned in 2002 after she was trapped underwater by the suction from a hot tub drain.
The law mandated that within a year of its enactment, all public pools and spas be retrofitted with drain covers that complied with new federal standards that prevented the possibility of entrapment.
“We’re getting to it as soon as we could,” said Parks and Recreation Department spokesman Jason Armstrong, citing issues with funding and procurement. Global Specialty Contractors, a Minnesota-based firm with a Honolulu office, has been awarded the $234,640 contract to do the work.
“If we’re in the middle of a fiscal year, we don’t anticipate it. We haven’t budgeted for it,” Armstrong said, adding that additional delays came about through the design and bid processes.
The Kawamoto pool is used by the Waiakea High water polo squad and age group swim teams. New drain covers have already been installed at both the Laupahoehoe and Kohala pools, while similar work at the Pahoa Community Aquatic Center will be scheduled at a later date.
“It definitely will impact age-group swimming,” said Hilo Aquatic Club coach John Hayashida, but because the closures are short-term, the interruptions will be minimal. Some of the other swim clubs have been relocated to swimming pools at the YWCA, the University of Hawaii at Hilo, or at Hilo High School.
“The drains on our pools are larger than residential pools and many resort pools,” Armstrong said, and many of the county pools have multiple drains. One factor that adds to the cost, he said, is that only stainless steel drain covers meet specifications, and those covers must be electrically grounded. Because of that, the only way to meet the mandate is to close the pool and drain it.
“It’s a pretty complex process,” Armstrong said.
As for the missed 2008 deadline for the upgrades, Armstrong believed, but could not confirm, that “as long as you’re making some progress,” the deadline is waived.
In the last fiscal year, county pools recorded 702,419 visits. The Kona community pool was the busiest, accounting for 291,116 visits, and the Kawamoto pool came in second with 123,909 visits.
In 2011, eight drain manufacturers recalled 1 million pool and spa drain covers after it was discovered the covers could still pose a risk of entrapment, but Hawaii County’s pools had not been previously retrofitted and were not subject to that recall.
Email Peter Sur at psur@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
