Chapter 3 (PART - 2)

Pool Owners’ Pleasures And Perils

The pool owner knows, but visitors generally do not know, what a problem it is to keep a pool clean. Everything that goes in must come out, and some objects come out with great difficulty. For example, a paper napkin will disintegrate into a thousand pieces. Bobby pins leave a rust mark and are a menace to the filter system. Band-Aids invariably come off in the water and are hard to sweep up. At the end of a hot day, with many swimmers using sun-tan lotion, you can see pools of oil on the surface of the water. This, in turn, contributes to the scum on the sides of the pool that eventually has to be scrubbed off. Those objects which have a way of being forgotten at the bottom should be removed as soon as possible. Before the children get out, you might suggest that they dive for them. “See that bathing cap strap? The cap's down by the drain, and while you're down there, get that penny, can you?"

Everyone just assumes that the water is pure as the driven snow. So it is really up to you to own and use a chemical kit to test it periodically. The water should be slightly alkaline, and if the pH factor reads 7.2 to 7.6, that is as it should be. The acid pH factor runs from 0 to 7 and the alkali runs from 7 to 14. If the water is too acid you add soda ash until it is chemically balanced. If the water is too alkaline, acid should be added. All problems concerning the filter, heater, chemicals and algae are not a matter of hit-and-miss and should be entrusted to an experienced and qualified pool maintenance and service man. Even if you don't require his services regularly for maintenance work, you should find one who knows that there is more to keeping a pool in proper condition than delivering chlorine.

Everyone thinks a swimming pool should be clean and sparkling. Every pool owner works hard at keeping it this way. If the water is a little cloudy or a little green, he is up and at it right away. If the pool has a bad case of black algae, this seems no less serious to some visitors than for a member of your family to have a case of black measles. You will never convince some people that algae is not harmful to a person's health. A guest pauses on his way to the dressing room, points to the water and says,”What's that?"

"That's a little case of algae. “

"Little? It spreads, doesn't it?"

"Yes, we're hoping to get it under control with chlorine before we have to drain the pool, scrub it off with straight chlorine, etch it with muriatic acid and paint it. “

"Gee, that's terrible. “

"I know, and expensive, too. “

"I mean the algae is terrible.“

The guest, of course, would not swim in your pool if it were not heated to a comfortable 80 degrees or more, which is the chief reason you have the algae, because even with consistent and diligent chemical treatment, and the filter working properly, and extra hours of sweeping or vacuuming, algae grow more rapidly in warm water. You can explain to a more sympathetic guest how your husband was down on the bottom of the pool with a wire brush trying to rid the pool of this unsightly slippery stuff and how nervous you were because he had a rock tied to his foot to keep him down. But only another pool owner would appreciate your making the experiment of filling an enema bag with pure chlorine and applying the syringe to the black spots. The experiment did not work, but you both agree that it had been worth a try.

What the guest does not know is that a pool can be algae free, and still contain harmful bacteria which he cannot see. He may guess that conditions are not perfect if the water tastes salty or if his eyes burn and turn crimson. Maintaining proper chlorination, and this means regular dosages of chlorine with periodic superchlorination (depending on how many swimmers are using your pool), running the filter long enough each day to filter the water once completely, and sweeping or vacuuming are all the pool owner need do; if he can afford a pool maintenance man to do it for him, all the better.

It's not surprising that children of pool owners find life with a pool not all it's cracked up to be. It seems to them that they are always on the handle of the broom sweeping toward the drain. Then there are the leaves to dive for. Then there is the problem of what to do with”friends”coming up to swim that they don't like to have around very much.

It occurs to the children midway through the summer that they never go any place because of the pool. It occurs to them midwinter that their parents only are invited to dinner in January, whereas in July the same set of parents as well as their four children had been entertained at an all-day pool and barbecue party. So when the child says that the pool doesn't even have a diving board, he is really saying a lot more than just that.

All neighborhood pools should be fenced and the play areas of small children such as sand piles and tricycle riding areas should be so arranged that they may be closed off from the pool area. It is the responsibility of the pool owner to see that the pool gate is locked when the pool is not in use. A plastic cover for the pool has advantages in that it will keep out lots of dirt and leaves when the season is over; but it is up to the pool owner to keep any child on a tricycle far, far away from the pool, and not assume that the plastic cover has eliminated danger.

Each year, companies that make accessories for pools come out with new equipment for pleasure or safety. Some are a combination. Some of these accessories are very expensive and very disappointing. Some are inexpensive and lots of fun, giving both additional pleasure and safety. Example: a variety of life ring. But most people have an inner tube or two around their pool because they are free or can be obtained at very little cost at the filling station where they get their gasoline. These should be the exclusive possession of those who know how to swim. Never let a child who cannot swim safely in deep water play in one of these, or in any other variety of floating equipment. They are slippery as an eel; a child can easily slide through the hole in the middle, and then where is he? But for young people who can swim, these tubes provide great fun. They are just right for diving through; two can seesaw, one can float on top, and one can tip the other one over. On a calm day* you can sit in an inner tube and read The New Yorker. It is fun to take a running jump, holding the inner tube behind you, and to land in the water in a sitting position. Children like best of all a tractor or airplane inner tube. Depending upon the area in which you live, you may find it difficult to obtain these large tubes at a modest price.

Another good pool accessory is an air mattress. Their advantage lies in their versatility. When they are deflated, they fold flat, and you can't say this for an inner tube. They are easily inflated by mouth or bicycle pump, and besides being more relaxing than an inner tube in the water, they are comfortable on the cold, hard cement. It is also fun to take a running dive and land flat on your stomach on an air mattress (which is in the pool, of course). They are perfect for drying off and for sunning after a swim, and if you have these around it takes the strain off that not-so-waterproof chaise longue. Their versatility includes their use as a mattress for sleeping bags when camping out. Their drawback: They are easily punctured.

*A calm day is when all of the children have gone to the Wednesday matinee.

If you have a toddler or small child too young to teach to swim, and you are around the water, then a life jacket is the only answer for the child's safety and your ease of mind. One problem is: Sometimes children who are ready to learn to swim have become so attached to and feel so secure with their life jackets that they are reluctant to part with them.

The kick board was mentioned in the lesson plans as an aid to beginning swimmers. This is a useful piece of equipment because the best kind made of lightweight plastic foam which weighs only about six ounces is inexpensive (under $5.00) and small, and doesn't create special storage problems; it can be used to practice the kick, for small-child”surfing,”and also for lifesaving.

The variety stores carry a ninety-eight-cent rubber ball in bright colors that is soft enough not to hurt (as basketballs do) when thrown square in the face, heavy enough not to blow away (as beach balls do), and just right (about eight inches in diameter) for throwing with one hand.

All of these items are fairly standard equipment around pools. Their primary asset is their buoyancy, so that besides their other functions, each can be used for lifesaving. A person in distress will grab hold of anything, and the thing he should grab least of all is you, or whoever goes to help. There are other things you might have around the pool such as a length of rope, or a bamboo pole (from a rug store), a wicker chair, a towel (you hold on to one end). All of these are acceptable and preferable to throwing yourself in after the victim. If a child is in distress you do not hesitate about jumping in and pulling the child to safety. But there is real danger when anyone jumps in to save someone who is near his own size. Although the subject of lifesaving is too important and complex to be treated briefly, it should be added that if you ever attempt to rescue someone who has given way to panic and who begins to pull you under, you should go under because the last place he wants to go is down. Obviously, maneuvers which will support him and move him toward safety should be practiced.

Pool owners rarely are subjected to a tragic incident, but careful attention to some basic precautions is absolutely necessary. Some pool owners may not even swim, but they should have some knowledge of lifesaving. They should not hesitate to call the fire department, and they should know how to administer artificial respiration. The Red Cross offers courses in lifesaving throughout the country all year long. The American National Red Cross, Washington, D.C., publishes a pamphlet which describes the relatively new Arm-lift Back-pressure method. Recently, at an American Medical Association meeting in San Francisco, one of the papers read at the meeting described the effectiveness of breathing into the victim's mouth. This method is especially successful with children. After you have made certain there is no foreign object in his throat and his tongue is in position, lay the victim on his back and hold the victim's jaw in a jutted-out position, pursing his lips outward. Place your mouth over his mouth and nose (in the case of a child) and steadily blow air. One hand should hold the jaw, and the other hand should press firmly on the stomach so that it doesn't fill with air. You should be able to feel the subjects chest rise as a sign that the lungs have inflated; then remove your mouth and let the lungs deflate. Repeat the entire operation no more than 20 times a minute. After every 20 breaths, you should rest long enough to breathe deeply yourself.

All of these problems and risks, however, can be prepared for. If they are anticipated, the greatest possible room is left for the pleasures and benefits of swimming, for young and old such unanticipated and incalculable delights as you may know for yourself.