Parental guidance: Info on pool alarms
Learn about swimming pool alarms. Credit: iStock
"We're thinking of children younger than 6 years old," says Paulette Pitrak, deputy executive director of the Northeast Spa and Pool Association, a trade organization for New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut whose members sell, install, manufacture, repair or service pools and hot tubs.
Some municipalities have additional requirements; the state also requires a 4-foot- high fence around all pools.
If you're concerned about whether a home has a pool alarm -- perhaps the pool was installed before 2006 -- "I definitely would ask," Pitrak says. You might even ask people with a newer pool, because people sometimes install the alarm to pass the required codes and later remove it because it's annoying. Parents can then decide whether to send a young child there.
