Harris County steps up public pool inspections

Harris County is considering actively regulating for the first time public pools in unincorporated parts of the county.

More than 2½ years in the making, the proposed regulations would require each public pool — including most of those run by homeowner associations, gymnasiums and apartment complexes as well as some other water features like fountains — to be permitted by the county.

To get a permit, the county will conduct a free inspection to make sure the pool is in compliance with state law, said Michael Schaffer, the county’s director of environmental public health. If found to be in violation, the pool would be shut down until the problems are fixed. It would then have to be reinspected at a cost to make sure the problems are fixed, starting at $200 for the first reinspection.

Harris County commissioners held a public hearing on the regulations Tuesday, but did not approve them. The hearing comes days after the Centers for Disease Control released a report calling for “the need to improve operation and maintenance of U.S. public aquatic facilities,” finding that more than 12 percent of pools nationwide get shut down because of violations found during routine inspections.

The CDC also noted that drowning is the leading cause of “injury death” for children ages 1 to 4, with half of the drownings occurring in swimming pools.

Schaffer said the most common violations found by the county involve poor sanitization, incorrect pH levels and lack of proper safety devices.

The county traditionally only conducted inspections and pool closures based on complaints. About 18 months ago, the county began actively conducting some inspections, in part to gather data for the proposed regulations.

Schaffer said inspectors closed about 21 percent of pools through more than 800 inspections, far higher than the roughly 12 percent national average.

“If you’re almost double the national average,” Schaffer said, “there’s a problem.”