LETTER: ‘OUTDATED’ HEALTH UNIT AND BELL POOL REGULATIONS ‘MAKE NO SENSE,’ SAYS CAMPING IN MUSKOKA OWNER PAUL COOK
Letter to Editor:
Health unit regulations for pools are from 1990, 35 years old.
We have an outdoor ‘Class B’ pool and a ‘Class C’ wading pool (O Reg. 494/17).
It still states that we must have a landline for the emergency phone. I think this regulation is outdated.
We had problems this year with our business landline phone system. The Bell techs sent out could not fix it. The system is obsolete.
On the advice of our service provider, we changed to Voice Over Internet protocol (VOIP).
Because this works over the Internet, it does not satisfy the health unit.
When asked why, they always repeat: “What happens if the power goes out?”
If the power is out, the pools must close. Because the pumps are not circulating water.
When we point this out, other reasons are mentioned. Never a specific problem.
The landline is allowed to be 30 metres away from the pool.
Does this seem to be common sense? As most swimmers and all our staff carry cell phones and would use them in an emergency.
Not the emergency landline phone perhaps located 30 metres away.
As mentioned, we have a Class B pool and a Class C wading pool.
The Class B pool is 2.4 metres deep at the deepest part; and the Class C wading pool is 0.65 metres deep at the deepest part.
We are allowed to run the Class B pool without staff supervision, but we need staff trained in the First Aid to be at the wading pool at all times.
This is not common sense to me.
In 2017 the health unit made us buy and install suction release valve systems (SRVS) on both pools. These are designed to prevent entrapment of swimmers in the main drain at the bottom of the pool.
Our pools are built with no direct suction from the main drains. The main drain connects to the skimmer basket on both pools.
O Reg. 494/175.17 section C states it is permissible to have another engineered system designed, constructed and installed to conform to good engineering practice appropriate to the circumstances.
I think this fits our pools.
Despite sending the health unit approved drawings used when our pools were built, we still had to buy and install the SRVSs. They cost $1,350 each.
This past summer we plugged the lines connecting to the skimmer baskets to the main drain.
Still, this is still not enough for the health unit.
I tried to find a case of someone drowning by entrapment in a skimmer basket. I can find no cases of this happening.
For me this is the health unit creating a solution for a problem that does not exist.
Paul Cook, owner
Camping in Muskoka Gravenhurst
Paul Cook’s family has owned the former KOA Campground for 54 years since his wife Mary’s father Frank McLaughlin opened it. There are 150 campsites and 10 rental cabins. He says the two pools are a major reason campers come from far and wide to stay in the popular little Muskoka summer community campground. He hires two summer employees to staff the pools 10 hours a day. The campground also boasts a par-3 golf course and cross-country ski trails in winter. It is located on the north edge of Gravenhurst just off Hwy. 11 next to the Muskoka Airport.
