Summer is practically synonymous with pools. Both kids and adults alike truly enjoy spending time in pools and at them, and they are a refreshing way to relax and cool off after a long hot day in the sun.
Pools can be a parent’s worst nightmare, however, when it comes to safety. Parents prep for a lot of things when it comes to water safety; we get our kids lessons, we read about water toy safety, and if we have a pool, we do everything we can to make sure it isn’t easily accessible. But what do you do if the pool itself is unexpectedly unsafe?
Currently there are about 5 million above-ground swimming pools being recalled after a design flaw caused nine children to drown. Of the nine children who lost their lives, they were all between the ages of 22 months to 3 years old when the deaths occurred from 2007 to 2022.
All 48-inch and taller Intex, Coleman, Bestway, and Polygroup pools that use compression straps pose a huge risk to kids. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission stated that those straps, when wrapped around the pool, can create a foothold that allows kids to be able to climb into the pool even without the ladder.
The Daily Mail reported that Bestway and Coleman models sold between 2008 and 2024, select Intex models from 2002 and 2012, and Polygroup above-ground pools sold between 2006 and 2025 are all susceptible to this flaw.
If you happen to be a consumer with one of these pools, you can contact the parent company to receive a repair kit that remedies the issue. The safety commission recommends either keeping the pool totally drained or ensuring children can’t access the pool unattended before the repair is done.
Although the pools ran families between $400 to a little over $1,000, you can’t put a price on the safety of your kid. If you have one of these pools at home, making that call is essential.
