Keeping Kids Safe While You Maintain Your Pool

Applies to: Families with children and any home pool, in-ground or above-ground, during routine care, opening, closing, draining and repairs.

Why maintenance time is risky time

Drowning happens quickly and quietly, CDC says. Pool Safely says the adult watching children should have that as their only task, with no reading, texting or phone games. That means the person doing pool work can’t also be the water watcher.^[5][8]

• Before you start, decide who is watching the children, or do the work while they are indoors with another adult.^[5][8]
• If a child goes missing, check the pool first.^[8]

Chemical work

• Keep all chemicals away from children and pets, and keep children away from spills and treated areas.^[3][9]
• If the doorbell or phone interrupts you, EPA says to re-close the package first and keep it out of children’s reach while you are gone.^[10]
• Lock chemicals up when you finish, and secure the storage area and pump room against children.^[11][12]
• Teach children that pool chemicals are poisons and not to be touched.^[10]

EPA puts it plainly: adults have an important responsibility to keep children from being exposed to harmful household products. See our home chemical safety guide for handling, spills and exposure steps.^[9]

Covers coming off and going on

CPSC urges pool owners never to leave a solar cover partially in place, because a swimmer who surfaces under it may be unable to breathe. Bestway’s manual says its pool cover is not a safety barrier. CPSC’s barrier guidelines say power safety covers should conform to the ASTM F1346 standard, which sets safety performance requirements for pool covers to protect young children from drowning.^[2][7][13]

• Pump standing water off the cover; Pentair recommends a cover pump. CPSC notes a young child can drown in just inches of water.^[1][14]
• Keep the cover well maintained and the control for a powered cover out of children’s reach.^[7]

Gates, ladders and climbable equipment

• Never prop open the gate to a pool barrier, including with a hose or cord run through it. CPSC calls a gate that fails to close and latch the weak link in any fence.^[1][7]
• Above-ground pools: remove the ladder when you leave the pool; toddlers can climb it.^[13]
• Place pumps and filters so children can’t use them to climb in. Hayward says equipment must be positioned so children can’t use it to reach the pool.^[7][13][15]
• Clear floats and toys from the pool when you finish; they attract children.^[5][13]

Cords and electricity

CPSC warns about electrical appliances and extension cords falling or being pulled into the water, and recommends battery-operated appliances near pools. Hayward’s pump manual says not to use an extension cord for its pump, and Bestway says to keep electrical lines and devices away from the pool.^[4][13][15]

• Supervise children around robotic cleaners. Zodiac says children must not play with the appliance.^[16]
• Know where the breakers for pool equipment are and how to shut them off in an emergency.^[4]

Draining, filling and low water

Bestway’s manual says to keep children in direct sight while you fill or empty the pool, and not to remove safety barriers until the pool is completely empty and stowed away. Even low water is a hazard: CPSC notes a young child can drown in just inches of water.^[1][13]

Equipment pads and pump rooms

• Don’t let children use or climb on the heater, pumps or filters, as Hayward’s heater manual warns.^[19]
• Motors run hot, Hayward notes, so keep small hands away.^[19]
• Keep gasoline, gas-powered equipment and other ignition sources out of the chemical storage area, and don’t store gasoline near a gas heater.^[12][20]
• Turn off power before working on the pump or motor, as Hayward’s manual says.^[15]

Maintenance never replaces the layers

CPSC says barriers are not childproof, but they provide layers of protection when adult supervision lapses. CDC recommends a four-sided fence at least four feet high that fully encloses the pool, with self-closing, self-latching gates, and shutting and locking doors that lead to the water after swim time. Pool Safely adds door alarms, covers kept in working order, and CPR skills.^[5][7][8]