he living room is empty except for several vases of flowers and two large portraits of a young, dark-haired woman with a radiant smile. A few dozen folding chairs lean in neat rows against the wall. This is where the memorial service was held for 21-year-old Natalie Garcia.
What was to be a birthday gathering for Natalie’s brother last summer turned into a tragedy for the Arleta, Calif., family. The Garcias had just remodeled their pool and Natalie and her brother, Byron, decided to go for a dip before the party guests arrived. While swimming in the deep end, Natalie touched the newly replaced underwater light and suddenly went limp. As Byron tried to help her, he felt shocks go through his body.
Another brother, Fernando, raced across the yard, but he was too late. “She was already gone,” says Fernando, looking toward the pool, drained now and cordoned off with yellow caution tape. The cause of the incident was still under investigation at press time.
Natalie’s accident was extremely rare, but risks are still present, experts say. From 1990 through 2003, a total of 60 people died due to electrocutions in swimming pools, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Another 50 injuries were reported. The numbers may be low, but pool electrocution is completely preventable, and should never happen at all.
| The Statistics |
Following are the causes of electrical deaths in the United States associated with pools in the years 1990-2002:
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28
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Plugged-in radios or stereos, extension cords or power tools
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13
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Underwater pool lights
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10
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Pool pumps
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9
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Sump pumps, pool vacuums or pressure washers
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Source: U.S. CPSC
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Older pools
Every pool built is subject to the National Electric Code. This is a written standard that, if followed correctly, ensures safety from electrical hazard. The code first addressed pools in 1962 and has been amended several times.
Pools built before the NEC account for the greatest risk of injury because many of them have not been brought up to code. “There are hundreds of thousands of potential deaths because older pools are in those conditions,” says George Anchales, former chief electrical inspector for the San Bernardino County Building and Safety Division in San Bernardino, Calif. Anchales has been pushing the issue of pool electrocution ever since a man in his town became a victim in the late 1980s.
But many aging public pools are facing tighter budgets as they compete with newer facilities, leaving maintenance and upkeep by the wayside, according to the American Red Cross. “There’s nothing wrong with older pools as long as you keep them up and you’re aware of what needs to be replaced and when,” says Greg Stockton, national preparedness expert with the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C.
But when those fixes don’t happen, swimmers can be left vulnerable. For example, one potential hazard lies in lights that were installed before 1965. Old lights are considered dangerous because of possible current leakage. When a light burns out, the bulb is changed but the lens cover, or gasket, is not always properly tightened. This may result in water exposure and further corrosion of the ground wire. The current NEC requires all lights to be encapsulated with an epoxy potting material, to keep water out and seal in the current.
Another problem is that many older pools haven’t been retrofitted with ground fault circuit interrupters. GFCIs cut off electricity when they sense a change in current flow. In pools, the GFCI also senses when current is escaping to the ground through the water. In 1975, the NEC required all pools and underwater light fixtures running at more than 15 volts to be fitted with GFCIs.
A third issue is the way flush deck junction boxes were constructed. Until 1971, flush deck junction boxes were placed close to the edge of the pool without a potting compound and mixed with 120/240-volt wiring for other systems within the same box. They would sometimes fill with water and corrode the wires.
Upon the amended NEC in 1971, only appliances with 15 or fewer volts are allowed in flush deck junction boxes. The boxes need to be placed in an epoxy-material potting compound to protect the wires, and be located at least 4 feet from the poolside, Anchales says. The now-separate 120/240-volt receptacles are required to be at least 20 feet from the pool, according to the 1984 amended version of the NEC.
The NEC requires that every new pool must adhere to the standard, but there is no such requirement for pools built before the code was written. Today, many older pools have been updated to meet the NEC, but there are still plenty out there that have not.
Making it law
In August 1997, Yasmin Paleso’o was splashing in the pool of her apartment complex in Daly City, Calif., when electricity began surging through the 13-year-old’s body. Five other girls playing in the pool started screaming as the electrical shocks began to sting them.
The other girls were pulled out in time, but Yasmin did not survive. Further investigations uncovered faulty wiring and no updated circuit breakers — two easily remedied problems that could have saved her life. In 1998, the teenager’s death spurred a state legislative measure requiring that all commercial pools, including apartment complexes, be retrofitted to meet the NEC. The bill became known as the Yasmin Paleso’o Memorial Swimming Pool Safety Law.
Anchales was a major advocate for the California bill, which mandated commercial pools be retrofitted, but not residential pools. Until Jasmine’s death, even apartments were not included. The original proposal stated that residential pools be retrofitted when a property went into escrow — a requirement that was shot down by the real estate lobby.
“No one wants to try to sell a house with a big flier saying there’s a pool that can kill you,” Anchales explains.
Don Burns adds that the real estate lobby argues such a law is unenforceable. “Who’s going to inspect it? Who’s going to make sure it’s right?” asks the CEO/president of the California Spa & Pool Industry Education Council (better known as SPEC), a lobbying group for the California pool industry based in Sacramento. “It’s a political reality: You can’t put a cop in everybody’s backyard.”
Today, in some cities and states, a pool is required to be retrofitted if a home undergoes a certain amount of renovation. For example, in North Carolina, a pool must be brought up to code when at least 50 percent of the structure is being reconstructed.
“With almost all older pools, there would be some issue that probably needs to be addressed from a safety or health standpoint,” says James Matthews, president of Carolina Aquatech Pools, a builder in Sanford, N.C.
At the very least, builders and electricians should recommend to homeowners that they update older pools, experts say. “If a builder does a remodel and doesn’t [create a safer pool], he is responsible in the event of an accident,” says Rick Legnon, president of Advanced Pools, a builder in Rancho Cordova, Calif. “Any time a property is sold, the pool should also be brought up to code.”
Other factors
Many installations built before the NEC have not been retrofitted, and this remains a real issue in pool electrocution. But there are other reasons the problem exists as well. Following are four factors that contribute to pool electrocution, and what industry members can do to protect themselves and their customers:
• Inexperienced service technicians
A number of electrocution incidents result from work done by nonlicensed, nonelectricians, according to industry experts. “A lot of pool service techs with no background in electricity are doing repairs and shouldn’t be,” says Alison Osinski, Ph.D., owner of Aquatic Consulting Services in San Diego.
Michael D. Manley, for one, doesn’t allow his service technicians to handle electrical matters. “We always tell our employees if they think there’s a problem and they see exposed wires, let the electrician handle it,” says the owner of Champagne Aquatech Pools & Spas in Sanford, Fla., and a Pool & Spa News Top Builder. “I don’t want my service techs to mess with that.”
• Choice of materials
Electric companies warn people to avoid using long-handled leaf skimmers or shepherd’s rescue hooks made of metal or wood. These tools can become conductors if they come in contact with overhead power lines. Instead, use fiberglass tools. The Red Cross and CPSC also recommend wearing dry, rubber-soled shoes when handling equipment.
• Electrical items falling into water
The most commonly heard warning is to never use a hair dryer while in the bathtub. The same principle applies to appliances used near pools and hot tubs. Stereos, televisions, telephones, electric cleaning and repair equipment, and strings of lights falling into pools and hot tubs are among the electrical devices that have caused electrocution injuries and deaths.
“How many times do I see [someone] in the pool, hanging onto the ladder with one hand and reaching out to adjust the boombox volume with the other?” Osinski says. “They’re becoming the ground and it just doesn’t occur to them what they’re doing.”
Pool builders should remind customers that electrical items need to be plugged with an outdoor, not indoor, extension cord. They also should be kept at least 10 feet from the pool.
• Placement near power lines
A smaller issue, but enough to warrant warnings from power companies, is the need to install pools at least 25 feet away from overhead lines. Osinski says despite these recommendations, she’s seen pools placed “awfully close” to high-tension wires, which can serve as grounding spots for stray currents.
“Just because a lot of people haven’t died doesn’t mean it’s not a disaster or problem,” says Stockton of the American Red Cross.
“At a minimum, people need to be aware that these shock hazards are present, and what they need to do to avoid them,” he adds.
For more information on how to prevent pool electrocutions, visit the CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5039.html.
