Wake County busy checking pools ahead of summer
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Wake County inspectors are checking more than 1,100 public swimming pools. They started the inspections in April and the goal is to finish them by Memorial Day weekend, when swimming season starts.
Pools in private communities, neighborhood pools, and public pools are included.
Some of the things inspectors are checking include PH and chlorine levels and making sure specific equipment is available.
"Safety equipment, emergency phone, water chemistry, main drains, and then there are other things we look for in terms of maintenance and operation throughout the entire pool enclosure area," said Jessica Sanders, who overseas pool inspections for Wake County.
They won't, however, inspect the electrical system. That's not required by law.
But the parents of a Raleigh teen killed at the Heritage Point pool last September are trying to change that.
Rachel Rossoff, 17, was electrocuted then drowned.
Her parents are lobbying the General Assembly for a new law mandating annual electrical inspections.
They are also suing two companies for damages, claiming that shoddy repair work on the pool electrical system caused her death.
Sanders said she recommends pool owners perform electrical inspections but again, they're not required by law.
Ruth Lassiter, Wake County Communicable Disease Program Manager, said the county is being proactive against cryptosporidium after 62 cases surfaced last year. It causes diarrhea in people who get infected with it.
"You can get crypto by swimming in contaminated water," Lassiter said. "Crypto is a parasite that lives in stool or poop in humans and in animals. You will be swimming with not only anybody else that's in the pool but any germs they might have."
Lassiter recommends showering before entering a pool to prevent spread of crypto.
