
Healthy and Safe Swimming Week 2022: Make a Healthy Splash—Stay Healthy and Safe in Splash Pads
Swimming is a fun, healthy way to stay physically active and spend quality time with family and friends. Healthy and Safe Swimming Week highlights the roles that swimmers, parents, aquatics and beach staff, residential pool owners, and public health officials play in preventing disease outbreaks, drowning, and pool chemical injuries.
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Splash pads (also known as interactive fountains, spray pads, spray parks, or wet decks) are aquatic venues that spray or jet water on users. Splash pads are usually designed so that standing water does not collect in the water play area to reduce the risk of drowning. Because of this design, splash pads do not always meet the local, state, territorial, or tribal definition of an “aquatic venue.” This means they are not always regulated, nor are they always required to disinfect the water with germ-killing chemicals. Splash pads can spread germs and make users sick if the water is not adequately disinfected. So, users and parents of young users should take their own steps to stop the spread of germs. To learn more Please visit the CDC's Splash Pad webpage. Stopping the Spread of Germs in Splash Pads Splash pad users and parents of young users can take a few steps to help stop the spread of germs in the water: DO:
DON’T:
The Facts:
You can prevent drowning by:
To learn more please visit the CDC's Drowning Prevention website.
You can get sick with diarrhea if you swallow contaminated recreational water—water in pools, hot tubs, water playgrounds, or oceans, lakes, and rivers. In fact, diarrhea is the most common illness reported for outbreaks linked to recreational water! To find out more about how contaminated recreational water may impact you please follow this link to the CDC's Diarrhea and Swimming webpage.
Pool chemicals, such as chlorine and bromine, are added to treated venues (for example, pools, hot tubs/spas, and water playgrounds) to protect swimmers from the spread of germs and prevent outbreaks. Other pool chemicals help with the disinfection process (for example, pH control), improve water quality, stop corrosion and scaling of equipment, and protect against algal growth. However, pool chemicals can injure people when mixed together or when appropriate personal protective equipment is not used when handling them. Please visit the CDC's Pool Chemical Safety webpage for more information. |
COVID-19 INFORMATION |
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Public Recreational Bathing (PRB) facilities are not required to implement any COVID-19 mitigation measures for the 2022 bathing season. Facilities may choose to implement measures if they so choose. The Centers for Disease Control's has indicated that " There is no evidence that the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through swimming pools, hot tubs, splash pads, or fresh and marine water (such as water in lakes, rivers, ponds, and oceans). The CDC's website COVID-19 and Public Pools and Beaches provides some information on steps firms can take to reduce the spread of COVID-19 within their environments.
CDC- Considerations for Public Beaches
Additional Resources What to Do If You or Someone You Know is Sick
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