The Virginia Graeme Baker Act (VGBA) was passed in December 2007, and then changed in May 2021. The update implemented caused a rolling change, with many existing public pools and spas either forced to close or comply.
A recent tragedy this past March in Houston, Texas — where a girl tragically died in a pool suction entrapment accident, and the pool operator failed to produce VGBA drain cover proof of compliance documentation, which is mandatory — re-sparked conversation over suction entrapment and the importance the VGBA plays in swimmer safety.
As such, we spoke with Hassan Hamza P.E. of Vacless Systems, who is passionate about the awareness of swimming pool and spa safety while providing products to prevent injuries and deaths associated with entrapment.
AQUA: How are we doing as an industry since the VGBA was passed in December of 2007?
Hassan Hamza: Fifteen years have passed since the Virginia Graeme Baker Act (VGBA) was passed by the United States Congress to establish the guidelines for pool and spa safety. The most important part of these guidelines are rules to curb and eliminate body entrapments that cause severe injuries or death. Since then, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) stats show a 76% annual decrease in body entrapment related deaths. The decrease is owed to the relentless efforts of the pool industry and the health departments in implementing the VGBA regulations.
However, recent data shows there is a 17% spike in hospital emergency room non-fatal and treatable pool drowning injuries involving children. The spike may be seen as relaxation following the VGBA guidelines and should be treated as an alarming call for a reminder of the dangers of suction entrapments during the swim season.
AQ: Can you briefly describe the different products that prevent suction entrapment?
HH: Many methods and devices are being installed in pools and spas to tackle the issue of body entrapments, including and not limited to, adding extra Suction Outlet Fitting Assemblies (SOFA) — sometimes referred to as main drains — covering those SOFAs with non-blockable covers, venting of the suction line of the pump, adding a secondary Safety Vacuum Release System (SVRS) or adding a pump shutoff system.
AQ: What are some of the advantages of an SVRS system?
HH: Safety Vacuum Release and Pump Shut-off Systems idle the pump upon entrapment by either inducting air into the suction side of the pump to make the pump lose prime, or by turning the pump off.
Some of the aforementioned systems are manually resettable and the others are automatically resettable. The disadvantage of the Pump Shut- Off Systems is they sometimes don’t completely eliminate the entrapping holding force because the column of head created by the pump suction is still in front of the pump. That column of water will not be released unless it is vented to atmospheric air.
To correct this disadvantage, some SVRS manufacturers have devices that turn the pump off while simultaneously inducting ambient air into the suction line.