Parks & Recreation - 2016 Aquatics Guide

AFO Certified

| The Legacy of Costello Rec

| Minneapolis’ Natural Pool A Q UAT I C S G U I D E 2 0 1 6 W W W. N R PA . O R G

2016 Aquatics Guide

features 2 How Minneapolis Built North America’s First Public Natural Swimming Pool Benjamin Johnson

6 Becoming a Certified Aquatic Facility Operator

Rich Young

8 Who’s on First?

Maria Collum

12 New CDC Data on

CYA Levels in Pools

Alvaro G. Mendoza

14 The Parent Partnership

Aleatha Ezra

16 Advertiser Index

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ince 1932 S.R.Smith has manufactured high-quality products for commercial aquatic facilities. Products include slides, pool games, diving boards, ladders and rails, starting blocks, lifeguard chairs, lane line reels and a full line of ADA-compliant pool lifts. S.R.Smith products are available worldwide through a network of distributors. 800.824.4387, info@srsmith.com, www. srsmith.com

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Parks & Recreation

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How Minneapolis Built North America’s First Public

Natural Swimming

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

By Benjamin Johnson

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An aerial view of Webber Park Natural Swimming Pool. Every 12 hours, the 500,000 gallons of water in this pool circulates through a regeneration basin where contaminants are removed, and the water is then pumped back into the pool.

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unshine beamed down on hundreds of people enjoying the Webber Park Natural Swimming Pool (Webber NSP) on a beautiful July afternoon. Toddlers sat, happily splashing in the shallow pool area while older kids lined up for a turn to show off their aerial acrobatics on a nearby raised jumping platform. Further down, adults swam, paddle-kick-breathing their way through 25-meter laps, and on lush green grass surrounding the entire spectacle families stretched out, soaking in the sunshine that sustains Minnesotans through winter’s dark, frigid grasp.

Freshwater frolicking is a fairly common sight in Minneapolis — the city’s official logo features the slogan “City of Lakes” printed underneath a sailboat, and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) recorded close to 120,000 visits at its 12 public beaches in 2015.

However, the recreation enjoyed at Webber NSP is much different than any of the city’s beaches

Minneapolis Park and Rec

reation Board

nal 25 shows the origi This photo from 19 ted na do ey with mon Webber Pool, built and Mary Webber. hn Jo s ist op hr by philant

or any other pool in North America. It’s the product of innovative science and engineering made possible through years of grassroots neighborhood advocacy, creative fundraising and political maneuvering.

A Century-Old Legacy The Webber NSP became the first public natural swimming pool in North America when it opened on July 24, 2015, more than a century after the first freshwater outdoor public pool opened at Webber Park. The 21,000-square-foot pool doesn’t use any chemicals to cleanse its water.

Instead, water cycles through custom filters and an adjacent, 16,500-squarefoot regeneration basin containing approximately 7,000 native aquatic plants that remove contaminants naturally. A complete cycle — 500,000 gallons of water drained out of the pool, circulated through the regeneration basin and pumped back into the pool — occurs every 12 hours.

“It’s interesting how we’ve come full circle at Webber Park,” said MPRB Commissioner Jon Olson, who represents North Minneapolis, where Webber Park is located. “Pollution forced us away from natural swimming decades ago, but, now, better technology and a greater understanding of ecological processes gave us an 4

Parks & Recreation

opportunity to return to the freshwater, chemical-free experience.”

Natural swimming pools have been operating in Europe since the 1990s, so the science behind the self-cleaning technology isn’t completely new.

The bottom of the regeneration basin is lined with layers of gravel designed to snag potentially harmful bacteria.

Native aquatic plants filter out contaminants trapped in the gravel and provide habitat for turtles and frogs, just like Minnesota’s wetlands have done for centuries. In the pool, custom-made robotic vacuums scour the liner every night, removing algae and debris left by swimmers.

Shortly after Shingle Creek was dammed, local philanthropists John and Mary Webber donated money to construct a two-story bathhouse and public pool that used water diverted from the creek. The John Deere Webber Memorial Baths opened in 1910 and attracted thousands of swimmers each summer. Upstream pollution forced a change to chlorinated water in 1927, and the pool was relocated next to a new recreation center in 1979, where it stood until it closed in 2010.

Opportunities and Challenges The most recent Webber Park master planning process coincided with the pool closure. Neighborhood residents

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and park users had an opportunity to think broadly about which assets, services and values should be prioritized at the park during the coming decades.

“The community championed eco-friendly design and innovation during the extensive engagement process regarding the park’s master plan, and specifically on the topic of how to replace the pool,” remembered MPRB Superintendent Jayne Miller. “Building a natural swimming pool aligned perfectly with both the neighborhood’s history and its priorities looking forward.”

North Minneapolis has struggled economically for decades. The median annual household income in the Webber-Camden community is about $45,000, roughly $20,000 below the median for the entire Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. Also, access to the Mississippi River in North Minneapolis is limited by the waning legacy of industrial riverfront use and almost all of Minneapolis’ lakes reside miles away.

“Our commitment to equity certainly influenced the decision to build a natural swimming pool at Webber Park,” Commissioner Olson said. “We sincerely believe North Minneapolis should have access to the same level of park amenities as every other part of the city, and this was a prime opportunity to follow through on that belief.”

The first challenge encountered was a Minnesota state law mandating chemical treatment of all public swimming pools. MPRB lobbyists worked with state lawmakers to develop and garner support for legislation granting the Webber NSP a special exemption from that law. In addition, more state legislation was needed to make Webber Park eligible for regional park funds, which helped pay for the pool’s $7.1 million price tag. The necessary legis-

lation passed in 2012, ground broke on the project in 2013 and funding was secured by 2014, but there were still more challenges to overcome.

The winter of 2012-2013 was unusually cold, delaying construction as workers waited for the ground to thaw. Then, June 2013 brought record-breaking rainfall, wreaking havoc at the construction site. Finally, two months before the pool opened staff discovered the robotic vacuums designed to clean the pool liner didn’t work. New vacuums were ordered, but it would take several months to have them custom-built and shipped from Europe. For most of the 2015 season, pool maintenance crews hand vacuumed the liner.

“Effectively communicating the various challenges we encountered and the solutions to those challenges was critical to maintaining commu-

nity support,” said Superintendent Miller. “We had a very successful first season, in large part due to our incredibly dedicated staff.”

Who’s Next?

The Webber NSP drew 9,202 visitors over seven weekends (Friday-Sunday, plus Labor Day) in 2015. The new robotic vacuums work well and more lifeguards and maintenance staff are included in the 2016 budget to expand pool hours to six days per week this summer. Outdoor education opportunities also figure heavily into the park’s future plans. Hands-on programs centered on caring for and studying the regeneration basin and understanding aquatic habitats and their inhabitants are currently in development.

We hope the Webber NSP is the model cities emulate when residents ask public agencies to explore the fea-

sibility of a natural swimming pool. It took a lot of work to make it happen: political capital to obtain a legislative exemption allowing a non-chlorinated public pool, fundraising from multiple public agencies to pay for the project and troubleshooting from staff to ensure high water quality.

Now, we’re excited to share knowledge gleaned from the experience to help make the next public natural swimming pool even better.

Representatives from cities across North America have already visited for tours and information on building a public natural swimming pool.

The question isn’t if this project is replicable: it’s which city will be next?

Benjamin Johnson is the Communications Representative for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (bjohnson@ minneapolisparks.org).

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Parks & Recreation

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Becoming a Certified Aquatic Facility Operator

By Rich Young

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here are certifications for practically everything: organically grown chickens, used vehicles, prevailing wage payrolls and even good-foryour-heart breakfast cereals. There are so many certifications that the concept of being certified may appear to lose its significance, but not so with Aquatic Facility Operator (AFO) certification!

A Systematic Approach Two decades ago, AFO was born with a mission and goal to provide current and credible information to help those preparing to operate — and those who now operate, supervise and manage — public pool facilities to do so in a safe and efficient way. Kent Williams, a long-time public pool-industry expert, with help from a half dozen other industry professionals, wrote the comprehensive program manual. Those charged with developing the course — recreation directors, supervisors, pool managers, pool maintenance operators and experts on pumps, filtration and water chemistry — agreed more information for the “public facility” was needed to augment what was currently available. Nuts, bolts and arithmetic are important, but a more conceptual and systematic approach to the overall operation was needed.

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Candidates for NRPA’s AFO certification undergo two days of intensive training from expert instructors on all aspects of a public pool/spa operation, including mechanical systems, circulation components, water chemistry, chemical dosing, filters, heating, personal and public safety, and administration. Preventative maintenance, troubleshooting, purchasing and budget tips are also covered, along with time to examine case studies and discussions regarding specific applications, followed by a certification exam.

According to NRPA’s Education Program Specialist, Matt Cowan, “Candidates receive information on these topics using a systems approach, highlighting the essential individual components that affect the swimming pool as a whole and learn the operator’s role in maintaining these systems. This approach

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has proven itself to be very affective and relatable to pool operators and aquatics staff.”

Successful participants receive a five-year certification. Such certifications are required by many states and certainly are preferred by any agency looking to hire a pool operator, supervisor or manager. Once certified, candidates can renew their AFO by earning continuing education units (CEUs) and taking additional operational trainings, but most choose to retake the entire AFO course. Why? Every 3-5 years, NRPA performs a job task analysis (JTA) of the AFO program to analyze the job requirements performed by operators. This is to ensure that course materials are staying abreast of any changes in the industry.

A JTA was conducted in 2015 and the results of this will be the basis of updates to the AFO course material and new AFO exams, all of which are being revised and updated in 2016.

Jack of All Trades Public aquatic facilities cover myriad pool and spa types, including city and county aquatic centers, school and university pools, YMCA/ YWCA facilities, athletic centers, golf clubs, waterparks, resorts, camps, hospitals and hotels, to name a handful. These aquatic facilities require someone to facilitate and orchestrate all that is needed in order to ensure a well-run, safe facility.

What do all these public pool and spa facilities have in common?

• They are expensive to build, maintain and operate.

• They must have well-maintained, filtered, heated, sanitized, oxidized and balanced water.

• To maintain water quality, they

use a number of various water-handling and treatment systems that need monitoring, troubleshooting, maintenance and repair.

• They have the potential to injure or infect patrons if the water quality is not maintained.

• They may have several dozen to several hundred or more people in the water daily.

• They are regulated by state and county law.

• They require supervision and leadership of several categories of trained staff.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists swimming as the fourth most popular recreational activity in the United States and the most popular recreational activity for children and teens (ages 7-17). The CDC also estimates that during 2008, almost one in eight (12.1 percent or 13,532 of 111,487) routine pool inspections conducted identified serious violations that threatened public health and safety and resulted in an immediate closure.

An AFO is a true jack of all trades — at any point in time he or she could be required to be a chemist, engineer, plumber, mechanic or electrician. In addition many are asked to perform managerial duties, ensure patron safety, and serve as customer service representatives. With such broad responsibilities, the importance of this training is evident. “Especially considering that operators are preventing recreational water illness outbreaks, acting as risk managers and preventing debilitating injury or death. This is why most health departments require operator training or have a knowledge requirement for operators,” Cowan said.

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A Program Unlike Any Other AFO courses are offered across the nation and even abroad. If you are interested in getting AFO-certified, visit www.nrpa.org/afo for course schedules and more information.

Rich Young is the General Manager for Aquatic Commercial Consulting (richy@aquacom.us).

Resources

In addition to the AFO certification, NRPA offers the following resources for aquatic professionals: • Online courses and live webinars • Aquatic Facility Technician online course • Aquatic Management Professional Certificate • Dedicated Aquatics online network • NRPA Annual Conference For more information on NRPA aquatic opportunities, visit www.nrpa.org/aquatics.

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Who’s on

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Chris Costello

Anne Costello holds Lou Costello, Jr., also known as Butch, at his christening with Lou Costello and Bud Abbott looking on.

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First?

By Marla Collum

H

ave you ever taken the time to learn why your park or recreation center is named what it is? I did when I travelled to Los Angeles last November for the ribbon cutting and celebration for a completed project at the Lou Costello, Jr. Recreation Center. I considered it a fun fact that the project involved the refurbishment of the baseball diamonds, as I played out in my mind the famous comedy duo Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First,” the pair’s signature comedy skit that I had watched so many times with my baseball-loving family. The project was part of NRPA’s work with The Coca-Cola Company’s Refreshing Community Spaces program, and what an exciting day as members of the Boyle Heights community poured onto the field and into the nearby recreation center for games, music and fun. Everyone I talked to was thrilled with the new fields and especially the shade structures and new bleachers — no more splinters! Many sat proudly on a bench to have their photo taken with a festival-like backdrop — their home field and the park where their community comes together were in full celebration mode.

I worked with the staff of the Los Angeles Park and Recreation Department for many months on the project and was so excited to meet many of them in person at the event.

“There’s a fine line between comedy and tragedy,” Superintendent Sophia Pina-Cortez said to me as I expressed my appreciation for her remarks at the celebration. During the many months it took to com-

plete the refurbishment, I merely assumed that the field and recreation center were named for Lou Costello, Sr., the actor and comedian. In fact, the site was named in memory of Lou Costello, Jr., his only son.

In 1943, just one day before his first birthday, Lou Costello, Jr., also known as Butch, fell into the family swimming pool and drowned.

Earlier that day the elder Costello asked his wife Anne to keep Butch awake to see if he’d recognize his

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Chris Costello

Anne and Lou Costello at the opening of the youth center in 1947.

Butch’s portrait above them still hangs at what is now the Lou Costello, Jr. Recreation Center.

dad’s voice on the radio, because he and Bud Abbott were performing their radio show that evening. Many Hollywood stars and friends — people like Mickey Rooney — called and offered to fill in for Lou, but he somehow managed to get through the hour-long radio program. Only after they finished and Lou quickly left the stage to return home did Abbott explain to everyone on the set and in the audience that earlier that day Butch had drowned. Lou reportedly said to his sister, Marie, “I asked Anne to keep Butch up as I wanted to see if he’d recognize my voice on the radio, and wherever God has taken my son, I want him to know he can still hear me.” This is 10

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why he went to the studio and continued with the show on that impossibly sad day.

Lou Costello, Sr. turned tragedy into purpose with a mission to help people learn to swim, a life skill that he now saw as crucial. The recreation center in Boyle Heights was part of that mission — the land that is now the park and recreation center was originally the site of the Lou Costello, Jr. Foundation, which was founded by Lou Costello, Sr. and Abbott in 1947. In 1949, the land was conveyed to the city of Los Angeles under the condition that it would continue as a memorial to Butch and serve the youth of the community. During the ensuing

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years, thousands of people have enjoyed the center’s pool and perhaps more importantly, thousands have learned to swim there — a key component of what Abbott and Costello had hoped to accomplish.

I wanted to know more about this heartfelt gift to the Boyle Heights community. In that process I contacted two of Lou Costello, Sr.’s daughters, Paddy Humphries and Chris Costello, who are enthusiastic and caring supporters of the center and of the mission that was started by their parents. Paddy, who was 7 years old when Butch passed away, said, “Even before Butch, dad and mom were very attuned to kids — especially kids who were in need. Dad did not come from a wealthy background. We all led really great lives and he thought every kid should have the opportunity to be safe and live in a good environment. It was a way to honor his son and make something good out of the tragedy. They really worked to make sure everything was kept as normal as it could be. My other sister Carol and I — we lived in the pool in the summer. We were older, but I can’t remember a time when we were alone. My parents — my father especially — made sure that we were never, ever left alone.”

Paddy and Chris have been to the center in Boyle Heights many times for various events and celebrations and love hearing from the community — people who visited as children and now bring their own kids there.

It is evidence that their family’s legacy lives on. “Dad desperately wanted to keep the center going and in order to do that he turned it over to the city,” Paddy said. “The stipulations were that it would remain the Lou Costello Jr. Center and that the portrait of Butch would hang in the center.”

Chris added: “It was everything — not just swimming. There was a machine shop, a medical facility — the center was about him wanting kids to be safe and have opportunities.

Whether in a pool, play yard, home environments — he wanted to provide a safe place for kids. To know that the center is still going — it is such a tribute to him. He would be absolutely elated. That would probably mean more to him than any accolade or award. That is what he did for his son and it was passed along to people who need a safe place. They took their sorrow to another level to give back and that was what they wanted to do.”

The center is still very much serving its original purpose. When I asked what they thought their father would say to the thousands of people who work in parks and recre-

ation, teaching people to swim and keeping them safe, Paddy summed it up: “He’d be proud of them. It is

Lou Costello, Sr. turned tragedy into purpose with a mission to help people learn to swim, a life skill that he now saw as crucial. an ongoing process. You never reach the finish line because there is no finish line. He’d be so happy. You could have given him 100 big awards, but

he would be more proud of what he was able to do for the community.

Maybe kids are alive today because they had a place to go. There were not many places for kids to learn to swim. Families did not have resources to join the groups or camps — this was a place where kids could be supervised. Thank God for our parents. They were great people who were very down to earth. We really were blessed.”

Our conversation was serious, but I also laughed more while talking with Paddy and Chris than I had in months. When I suggested that the Costello sisters had definitely inherited their father’s sense of humor, Paddy replied, “It’s the only way to survive in this world. If you don’t have laughter what do you have?”

Marla Collum is NRPA’s Senior Manager of Programs (mcollum@nrpa.org).

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Parks & Recreation

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New CDC Data on CYA Levels in Pools

By Alvaro G. Mendoza

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unicipal pools started taking direct control of pool chemistry back in the early 1980s. At that time, most were using either gas chlorine or simple erosion feeders with trichlor tablets.

Few owners and operators were concerned about cryptosporidium (Crypto) outbreaks, and there was very little research and very few published guidelines for Crypto.

Now, fast forward to 2016, where, in the municipal pool industry, both of these chemical treatment technologies have become virtually extinct. However, Crypto, linked to major disease outbreaks and even patron fatalities, has wreaked havoc in multiple U.S. cities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a fecal accident guideline in May 2001, and new 2015 data finally clears up a 30-year-old debate on proper treatment strategies. It concludes that high stabilizer levels (with manual cyanuric acid (CYA) introduction or with trichlor tablets) may delay Crypto inactivation and thus be very harmful to patrons.

With this data, we now have all the tools, and must do the following, to formulate a cohesive game plan for safer swimming: • Understand CYA and the new 2015 research on CYA’s impact on Crypto (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/ abs/10.1021/acs.est.5b00962).

• Be aware of improved CYA testing strategies.

• Use a proper treatment strategy with correct stabilizer levels.

• Follow CDC protocol for fecal accidents.

• Educate staff and be prepared to take action.

CYA Review Stabilizer or CYA is a pool chemical that is available either as a standalone powdered or granular special12

Parks & Recreation

ty chemical, or as a byproduct of chlorine tablets or shock treatments.

Once in the water, it protects the chlorine molecule from destruction by sunlight. Its concentration is expressed in parts per million (PPM) and can be tested and verified using a variety of chemical test kits.

All chlorine types have a chemical byproduct, with some more beneficial than others. Trichlor, in granular or tablet form, contains 55 percent CYA. When added to pool water, the chlorine is consumed almost immediately, but the CYA accumulates and is only removed via water leaks, splash out, backwashing or proactively dumping water. In a typical 50,000 gallon pool, CYA would build up at a rate of 7.33 PPM per day. CYA can also be handfed (and overdosed) using powdered or granular stabilizer, and only 8.5 lbs. will raise the CYA level in the same pool by more than 20 PPM. Why is this important? CYA in higher concentrations overprotects the chlorine molecule from UV rays and germs alike, simultaneously delaying inactivation of the Crypto pathogen that could harm your patrons.

What Is the Optimum CYA Level?

While many Department of Health (DOH) codes specify a maximum stabilizer level of 100 PPM, best-practice maximum levels on a national basis are thought to be closer to 30-50 PPM. In the early 1980s, a national group of early Oxidation Reduction Potential

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(ORP) pioneers used early research to promote a 20-30 PPM maximum range for commercial pools, with an 8-10 PPM target for highly used municipal pools and waterparks. Using these CYA ranges, a facility could maintain 750-775 ORP levels with only 2 PPM of chlorine — both representing a high level of performance with minimized operational costs.

Now, in consideration of an acceptably quick Crypto kill, new 2015 CDC data points out that the optimum level of CYA is around 8 PPM to see the following benefits: • Retain 84 percent of CYA’s UV protection of the chlorine molecule • Achieve high ORP levels using moderate chlorine residual • Remediate a fecal release in only 6.2 hours using a 40-PPM shock The CDC data also contains the following additional facts: • As little as 16 PPM of stabilizer can almost triple the time needed to deactivate Crypto (3-log CT values) in 20 PPM of chlorine.

• At 50 PPM stabilizer, the time needed to deactivate Crypto is 4.6 times longer than without CYA. • At 100 PPM CYA (found in tens of thousands of Florida pools), Crypto inactivation was not possible in under 72 hours. So, if someone poops in your pool, are you really ready to subject your patrons to this risk for 72 hours?

• At 100 PPM the killing rate of chlorine is so diminished that Crypto oocysts had more of a chance of dying from “old age” than from the effects of the stabilized chlorine.

Using Proper CDC Protocol for Fecal Accidents At the forefront of any article on

CYA, fecal accidents and/or bather safety is a discussion on using the proper CDC guidelines (http://tinyurl. com/728o5ft) once a fecal accident occurs. As difficult as they may appear, they are infinitely more acceptable than the standards that some local health departments were concocting before CDC guidelines were adopted in the early 2000s. You may need to close your pool for several hours to a full day to properly inactivate Crypto.

There are a couple of ways, through education and a better strategy, to help bulletproof your facility: • Get educated about your water chemistry and find out what CYA levels are being used in your pools.

• Establish new guidelines for CYA in your pool to maintain 8-16 PPM maximum; close the pool for suitable amounts of time each time a fecal accident occurs.

• Maintain an emergency fecal treatment kit on-site.

This should consist of fast-acting shock in sufficient quantities to increase the chlorine to 60 PPM, along with enough dechlorination chemicals to restore to normal operations.

• Use a better photometric test kit to help measure CYA in your pool, and maintain good records.

• Operate your pool above DOH code standards for best results, especially in terms of maintenance, preparation and checks and balances.

• Make sure your operators are certified to operate pools.

NRPA’s AFO certification program (www.nrpa.org/ afo) can help to properly empower your staff.

• Maintain great records or subscribe to a remote monitoring, record-keeping and alert notification program.

They are recognized as a valuable loss-prevention tool and help make your facility more bulletproof.

Conclusion Compared to a specially promoted professional guideline of 20-30 PPM of CYA, the new CDC data pinpointing an 8-16 PPM target is not earth-shattering.

But, compared to the rampant number of pool service “professionals” holding 80-100 PPM CYA on every pool they operate, the correction for the owner is significant and should be made immediately.

While proper testing is important, asking your pool subcontractors or in-house staff the right questions is paramount. Given that Crypto can result from an unnoticed fecal release, can you really afford to expose your patrons for 72 hours?

Alvaro G. Mendoza is President and CEO of Commercial Energy Specialists Inc. (amendoza@ceswaterquality.com).

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13

The Parent Partnership

By Aleatha Ezra

I

“

f your child is in the water, you should be too.”

In the past few years, this phrase has become a mantra for aquatic center, waterpark and pool operators throughout the United States. It was created out of the industry’s need to make parents more aware that they play a vital role in keeping all kids safe while they enjoy time in an aquatic environment. Unfortunately, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning remains the second leading cause of unintended, injury-related deaths for children ages 1-14, and a leading cause of death for children ages 1-4.

With such stark statistics, it is no surprise that the industry has chosen to respond with in-park campaigns that seek to make parents part of the solution. Today, many operators are focusing on educating parents about the fact that being within arms length of their child in the water and making sure their children learn to swim is as important to overall guest safety as having lifeguards on the stand.

“Parents are our partners in safety. We use every oppor-

tunity to teach safe behaviors in and around the water to all of our members and guests, but we have chosen to focus on the parents so that their children will learn to be safe no matter where they swim,” said Judith Leblein Josephs, city of Summit/Summit Family Aquatic Center. “We are the lifeguards and parents are the lifesavers.”

Fortunately, building programs that positively influence parental behavior is achievable for facilities of all sizes, and once implemented, these programs often receive great reviews from parents.

Turning Parents into Partners There are any number of ways to engage with parents on their role in drowning prevention and water safety. Consider the following techniques:

1

Incorporate parental supervision messaging throughout all of your guest communications before and during their visit.

“Getting the message across actually starts before guests arrive at the park,” said George Deines, project director at Counsilman-Hunsaker. “Work with your marketing and public-relations team to make sure you are promoting safety on your park’s website, in your social media posts and in the promotional literature that is mailed or distributed to future guests.” By being proactive about your commitment to parental supervision before the guest visits, you can help reduce ambivalence after they pass through your gates.

Once the guest is on-site, reinforce your pre-visit messaging with signage and in-park programs that get parents actively involved. “Our facility uses ‘Child Watcher’ tags that parents elect to wear to show others they watch the water while they are at the park to prevent children from drowning,” said Sandra Greiner, waterpark manager at Cape Coral Parks and Recreation/Sun Splash Family Waterpark. “We also worked with Golisano Children’s

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Hospital in designing ways to make parents aware it is their responsibility to watch the water.”

Another idea is to create water safety videos and play them within your park or partner with local TV stations to air them as part of their public service announcement (PSA) campaigns. “Our facility created ‘Diddy TV,’ which was named for our park mascot, Shark Diddy,” said Leblein Josephs. “Some of the messaging includes coverage of proper pool behaviors, swim diapers and proper use of personal flotation devices.”

“We host a parents’ education day during our swimming lesson program, which allows us to share the importance of water safety with parents in a personal way,” said Sasha Mateer, general manager at Lake County Parks and Recreation/Deep River Waterpark in Indiana. “We have also partnered with our local PBS station to create public service announcements about water safety. These typically air during children’s programming with the message targeting both the child and the parents.”

sure that all members of your team — from admissions, to food and beverage to guest service staff — know that safety is everyone’s job, and give all employees the words to use when confronting and correcting a lack of parental supervision.

Don’t be afraid to make your employees walking billboards about parental responsibility. Our staff proudly wears a message on the back of their shirts that states, “I’m Watching Your Child. You Should Be Too!” Josephs said. The city of Summit is not alone, either. Many facilities are now incorporating this message on their staff uniforms.

However a facility decides to implement a parental responsibility campaign, the feedback from guests is generally positive and appreciative. “The key is explaining the reasons behind the safety policy instead

of just telling them what to do. I find the majority of parents appreciate our attempt to keep their kids safe,” Dombrowski said.

“We have also received feedback from our staff. They appreciate knowing that we are working hard to educate our customers about what they can do to stay safe around the water,” Mateer added.

At the end of the day, parents want to enjoy their time with their children at an aquatic venue, and they want everyone to go home safe and happy. By educating parents about water safety, operators can ensure fewer kids become drowning victims. And, that is the ultimate goal.

Aleatha Ezra is the Director of Park Member Development for the World Waterpark Association (aezra@waterparks.org).

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Train every member of your staff on why parental supervision matters and how they can support your program.

Imagine what could happen if your hundreds of seasonal staff members were all working together to turn parents into partners in safety? The impact could be incredible.

“Our staff members are trained and required to verbally point out the requirements for each individual pool or water attraction,” said Eric Dombrowski, waterpark manager for the city of Palmdale Recreation and Culture Department/DryTown Waterpark in California. According to Dombrowski, it is important to not just focus on your lifeguards. Make

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