Check out some pool safety tips for your summer.
In the midst of a hot, humid, Maryland summer, your family cannot get enough iced tea, time with a book underneath a shady tree, and afternoons soaking in the pool. Pools are wonderful investments for your home, and thanks to pool fencing, your pool can be safer and more secure than ever before. Here are five ways to help make your family’s pool a safe place all summer long.
1. Start with a Safety Cover
Safety covers are not always the most aesthetically appealing part of a pool, but they are one of the most important. Safety covers can be left on your pool all winter long to prevent any accidental and dangerous falls into the pool when snow makes it hard to tell what is the pool and what is ground. Safety covers are not just appropriate for below ground pools, as they are also available for above ground pools.
2. Professionally Install a Pool Safety Fence
Depending on where you live, you may already have a pool fence due to city or town regulations. If you do not already have a pool fence (or aren’t required to have one) that does not mean you shouldn’t seriously consider one. The Consumer Product and Safety Commission suggests that all pool owners install a fence around your pool that is over 48 inches high. The gate on the fence should be self-closing, self-latching, and child resistant. If it has an easy to open the latch, your son or daughter could easily get through it and find themselves in a very bad situation without you ever knowing what they were up to.
3. Sound the Alarm
Pool alarms can be a great addition to your pool fence and there are four main types available for you to choose from: perimeter alarms, pressure sensitive alarms, gate alarms, and wearable alarms. Perimeter alarms work like invisible fences. Whenever a child or animal walks through the invisible field you set up, the alarm will go off. Pressure sensitive alarms rest on the edge of the pool. Whenever something enters or falls into the pool, the pressure change will cause the alarm to go off. Gate alarms sit on the gate to your pool fence and will go off when the gate is opened. The final type, wearable alarms, can be worn on your child’s wrist and will go off whenever they get immersed in water.
4. Stock Up on Safety Equipment
Even after you have a pool fence and pool alarm, you should still have a few basic essentials on hand to ensure your family stays as safe as possible. You should always have a lifesaver attached to a rope to help pull anyone in danger to safety easily.
5. Make Sure to Always Have Adult Supervision
The one thing better than any technological tool is already in your head—your eyes! Having an adult always present to watch any children or animals near the pool is the best and cheapest tool you can own.
Let Us Help Make Your Pool Safe with a Pool Fence
Hercules Fence has been providing homeowners with quality fences for over 50 years. We are well equipped to meet your needs, whether they are residential or commercial. Contact us to see how a fence can increase your property value by giving us a call at 301-441-1600 or visiting us online. To see examples of our work, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Flickr.
