ith the recent high-profile suction entrapment drowning of former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker’s 7-year-old granddaughter in June and looming legislation on the horizon, the safety vacuum release systems (SVRS) market soon may be taking off.
Commercial sales are already booming. “A vast majority of the SVRS’ that we’ve sold have been on a contract basis,” says Rob Morgan, president of builder Sunbelt Pool Inc. in Dallas. “When we get a contract with a hotel chain or an apartment management company, they put them in all their properties.”
Distributors in Canada also experience lots of activity in the commercial sector. “The interest is high right now,” says Peter Phillips, president of Advance Leisure Inc. in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada. “There’s pending legislation in Ontario on anti-entrapment devices for public spas, so we’re selling a fair amount of equipment due to the change in regulations.”
With SVRS equipment costing as much as $1,500 and higher, some say the residential market may be a tough nut to crack.
“The likelihood of a suction-entrapment accident happening to a homeowner is very slim,” says Kevin Schloss, manager of retailer/builder North Jersey Pool & Spa Center in Fairfield, N.J. “There are more economical ways for them to be safe.”
Still, others see the market opening up in retrofitting projects.
“Most of the time, when we’re doing a renovation on an older pool with a single drain, homeowners will usually opt to go with SVRS or multiple drains,” Morgan says. “But until they’re doing some type of renovation and have it brought to their attention, very few are aware that there’s a potential problem.”
Short of an SVRS, manufacturers offer several other anti-entrapment products. “There are a number of major manufacturers coming up with anti-entrapment [drain] covers,” says Jeff Fausett, president of Aquatech Corp., a buying group for builders and retailers based in Huntington Beach, Calif.
“There are also lots of anti-vortex covers and they’re improving those as well,” Fausett says.
A voluntary standard for drain covers has been written (American Society of Mechanical Engineers/ American National Standards Institute A112.19.8M-1987) to help reduce hair entrapment.
One of the few covers introduced in the past few years to meet the criteria is an anti-hair entrapment model. It works automatically to prevent hair entanglement, using a self-shedding principle when bathers raise their heads. The high/low step design of the fingers on the cover also prohibits children from vacuum sealing the drain system with their buttocks, thus preventing evisceration.
Another way to eliminate the suction-entrapment hazard, one manufacturer has found, is to eliminate the suction altogether.
“There is a company that now produces a venturi suction main drain,” says Bill Galuhn, president of Carecraft Inc., a buying group for retailers, builders and service technicians based in Anaheim, Calif. “It’s the same principle as a venturi T in a spa. If someone sat on it, nothing would happen because there is no suction. The water is being pushed.”
Of course, spas present the greatest risk for suction-entrapment incidents simply because they’re shallow and their drains are easily accessible.
“At the bottom of spas, there is suction. The idea is to keep the kids away,” says Eric Lupton, vice president of Lifesaver, a manufacturer/dealer based in Delray Beach, Fla. “There’s a product that you can put in your spa that does that.”
Made of ABS plastic and custom-cut to fit most spas, the giant disc (filled with holes to let the water keep circulating) is set into the spa to create a false bottom and keep curious hands and feet away from the main drain. The product also can be raised and lowered to create a variety of water depths, making the spa more accommodating to older toddlers and young children. Lupton says it’s ideal for giving swim lessons.
Although it has been around since 1993, its manufacturer says its markets have been growing. Texas has served as the product’s main market, but now distributorship has reached into giant pool states such as California and Florida.
