The pool/spa industry has certainly changed in its attitudes toward water safety and its advocacy.
Where professionals and organizations used to blanch at the mention of drowning prevention measures, it has come to embrace the conversation. Where they used to believe that discussing safety would dampen the joy that surrounds pool and spa ownership, now many industry leaders and pool/spa professionals see it as preserving that magic and even deepening relationships with clients by ensuring them
that the company they chose puts their safety first.
These things come to mind as we celebrate National Water Safety Month. In the U.S., 49 states, one territory, and a commonwealth all have
declared May to be Water Safety Month in 2026 at least. To our north, Canada will commemorate National Drowning Prevention Week July 19-25, 2026.
Here, we offer tips on how to bring the message to customers year-round.
1. Encourage swim lessons.
If anything can be credited for making water safety palatable to professionals who once avoided such discussions, it’s the movement to convert every person into a swimmer. This provides pool owners with a positive step that they can take – not only to ensure safety but increase their enjoyment of a water environment. Not only that – but it creates more potential customers in the children who grow up to
be homeowners and potential pool owners.
The Pool & Hot Tub Alliance’s Step Into Swim program and the International Swimming Pool Hall of Fame’s Every Child a Swimmer have spearheaded this movement, and provide a common place for industry companies and associations to contribute to make a collective difference.
Companies can donate to these causes directly, or by attending fundraising events held for these organizations. Large concerts and parties are becoming marquee events at more trade shows such as the Pool and Spa Show: Powered by NESPA, and the Western Pool and Spa Show, while an increasing number of associations are choosing Step Into Swim as its charity of choice for golf tournaments and other fundraisers.
In your own company, you can incentivize employees to contribute by offering to match their donations.
Take the initiative to promote swim lessons with your own customers. Encourage them to place their children in swim lessons, whether it be at the local YMCA or in their own backyard. In-home instruction has the added benefit of specialized attention, allowing teachers to focus on the specifics of navigating safely around the student’s personal pool or spa. Some builders provide swim lessons as a thank-you gift to
clients with children. At the very least, companies can arm clients with resources for finding the right swim school or applying to free lessons.
2. Insert water safety messaging into your everyday dealings with customers.
Builders do this everyday simply by discussing safety options with new clients. But builders, as well as retailers, also can set up a safety corner in their locations, whether simply to showcase products to
prevent drowning or to also entertain their children while the parents handle the adult portion of the transactions. Children can enjoy water or safetythemed books to read, or coloring books.
Service companies, as well as builders and retailers, can incorporate messaging into billing and other communications. You could wish them a Happy Water Safety Month, encourage them to check their covers, alarms, and gates to make sure they’re working correctly, or remind them to enroll their children in swim lessons for the summer.
3. Leverage social media and blogs.
The success of your social media accounts and blogs rests not only with the content’s quality, but also with its frequency. For this reason, professionals are always on the hunt for new topics.
Dedicate some of your blogging and posting to offering tips for water safety and providing sources for swim lessons and safeguarding pools. Use social media to create positive messaging about water safety. Also make suggestions that aren’t as intuitive to those who don’t work in the water industry. Those who entertain, for instance, may not have considered the benefit of hiring a lifeguard to monitor their parties.
4. Reach out to the community.
If you hold customer pool schools to teach clients how to use and maintain their backyard installations, be sure to provide information on how to keep children safe.
But you can also reach out by introducing water safety when you exhibit at local fairs and expos, and offer water safety talks at these events. If you have blow-out sales, barbecues, or festivals on your lot to open or close out the summer, set up a table, give a talk and informational materials, and get the message out there.
5. Gift safety to clients.
If your clients have children, you can provide them with free swim lessons as a thank you gift. Additionally, you can purchase a myriad of children’s books that discuss water safety in a fun, story-telling context, such as Callum Takes Swimming Lessons, or books about Josh the Otter. The Step Into Swim website contains several choices. You can also make a special gesture for those clients who are new parents or have a little one on the way.
The National Drowning Prevention Alliance offers a Water Safety Toolkit for expecting and new parents.
THE “I’M A SAFE SWIMMER” PLEDGE
Half the battle is helping set a mindset of safety and getting children to realize the seriousness of water safety. You can encourage clients to have their children state the “I’m a Safe Swimmer” Pledge. To both impress upon them the importance of this pledge, while reinforcing the joy that water brings, you can even have them sign a written pledge and provide a certificate.
I pledge to never swim alone.
I pledge to never play or swim near
drains or suction fittings.
I pledge to always jump in feet first.
I pledge to obey the pool rules.
WATER SAFETY IN THEIR WORDS
Eric Nielson | Owner | Willow Creek Pools | West Hills, Calif.
Drowning has always been a concern for me. I have two people in my life who’ve lost children to drowning. One was a friend and
somebody I worked with. They literally thought that they had done everything: They had gates, alarms, everything. But two of their
small children… I think they were three and five… even with the alarm and the patio door locked up, they actually piled several books
together, which allowed them to climb up and out a window. Then they got into the pool, and one of the little boys drowned.
It’s affected me personally, seeing that and just hearing of it, especially when you have your own children. Certainly my kids swam
early. And my daughter is an Olympic-caliber now.
Caley Golding | Executive Vice President, Corporate | Gib-San Pools and Landscape Creations | Toronto
An important step is just having the conversation, and for everyone in the industry to be advocates for water safety, because it
makes a better environment for all of us. Water safety doesn’t always have to be negative — it can be quite a positive thing, even in
terms of just educating clients about the different opportunities that exist for them, not only in design options, but things like having
swim lessons at home or hiring a lifeguard when they have parties. It helps really differentiate yourself as an organization by keeping
safety as one of the most important elements of the design.
