I was kicked out of the pool this week because it thundered.
Me, and at least 25 others who had just jumped in to do laps had our afternoon swims cancelled by a thunderclap.
This kind of makes sense. If you are swimming in an outdoor pool and there is a threat of lightning, you should probably get out of the water.
Except my pool is an indoor pool.
There’s no way it could be hit by lightening.
The building that encloses it surely has some kind. of lighting protection and is fully grounded.
The pool undoubtedly has regular inspections by safety engineers, pool managers and electricians to make sure it is up to code.
So why does it close whenever there is thunder?
I looked it up. In the 1990’s, North Carolina’s Dept of Health created a rule that if there is thunder, all pools must be cleared for 30 minutes regardless of whether the pool is indoor or outdoor.
Since then, the rule has never changed.
I’m considering contacting the DHHS to see if there is anyway I could get this regulation to be reviewed.
According to multiple credible sources online (pool management associations, water safety authorities, electrical inspectors), a properly grounded indoor pool is safe for swimming even during thunderstorms.
I wonder if I could fight the bureaucracy and actually effect a change to the regulations.
I know I would have the support of the majority of my fellow lap swimmers.
But wow… just thinking about this makes me pause.
Changing a 30 year old regulation by working with a DHHS state employee during the Covid pandemic.
Perhaps I should just suck it up and accept the disappointment when I get kicked out of the pool for thunder.
I’d likely end up in the same place regardless of whether I take action on this or not.
Undoubtedly, the person who wrote this regulation had good intentions.
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- He wanted to ensure the safety of swimmers.
- He wanted to reduce the City’s liability in case anyone got electrocuted.
- He wanted an across the board, easy to implement standard
I doubt he was an indoor lap pool swimmer.
Like many others in government, he probably wrote this regulation based on pool regulations copied from somewhere else. He probably pictured what could happen if an indoor pool full of swimmers were electrocuted by lightning.
The problem is – it has never happened.
This regulation has been enforced for 3 decades in NC (any many other states) and I have found no evidence of an electrocution from lightening in a pool.
According to Aquatic Safety Research Group, “There are no documented reports of fatal lightning strikes at indoor swimming pools. None! Ever!”
So damn. I think I’m going to draft a letter to my DHHS contact and give it a shot.