If a cover is not marketed as a Safety Cover it definitely isn't one! Safety Covers are designed with the express purpose of preventing drowning tragedies
Some other types of pool covers are safe enough in general terms, but a danger lies in the fact that the cover may not be securely fixed to the coping and a child or pet could get UNDER the cover and drown. You cannot see the whole of the pool when the cover is in place
Automatic Pool Covers
A child could operate the controls of an automatic cover and open it just a little to have a ‘crafty swim’
He or she might swim under the cover and drown, or another person might close the cover, inadvertently trapping the child underneath
Ensure that the controls to Auto covers are well out of reach of children
Floating Pool Covers
Floating Pool Covers are potentially dangerous, because an adult, child or pet who falls onto such a cover could roll off and under the cover
The cover would then reform over the child and seal to the surface of the pool and drowning is very likely
Train your family - if this happens to them they must swim to the wall of the pool and pull the cover away to reach the air
Don't neglect to do this because it might just prevent a tragedy and the life you save may be that of your child
Winter Pool Covers
Winter Pool Covers are usually strong enough for a child or a pet to walk across but this should be strongly discouraged
Nothing lasts forever - including pool covers - and an old, weakened cover could split under the weight of a child, plunging the child into the water where he or she would be invisible
A child would have almost no chance of escaping this situation and would drown within a couple of minutes
In any of the above scenarios the child is not visible to the parent and a tragedy could happen all too easily
Safety Covers
If, however, a cover is marketed as a Safety Cover, has been installed correctly and the Manufacturers 'Owners Instructions for Use' are complied with - it will present none of the dangers outlined above
Such a cover will have been made to stringent criteria covering strength of the materials used, UV stability, maximum size of an object that can get through the mesh of the cover, etc.
A Safety Cover may be a little more expensive than other covers but they generally last a lot longer and, anyway, what price peace of mind?
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Andalusia and the Costa del Sol - Pool Safety Spain
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Ken Walker - MyPoolGuru©