Swimming Pool Store

Everyone enjoys playing in a swimming pool or relaxing in a spa.  In years past, however, it has been hard for people with physical handicaps to know those joys.  The Americans With Disabilities Act, or ADA, has set guidelines for accessibility for public pools and spas built since 2002.  These guidelines describe special features that make new or remodeled pools and spas accessible to the disabled.

Most public pools are a complex of facilities, including a wading pool, water slide with catch pool, a pool, and perhaps a seating area, an olympic sized competition pool, or other aquatic recreation facilities.  The surrounding area must have an unrestricted path so that people in wheelchairs can access each area.  Facilities are not required to make diving boards and platforms accessible, or slides, but the catch pool at the end of a slide must be on the accessible route.

One of the accessibility features a new public pool needs to have is a sloping entrance of a 1:12 ratio, or one inch down per foot of length.  This allows people who have trouble walking or are in wheelchairs to enter the pool.  If a pool contains over 300 feet of linear wall, then it is considered a large pool, and must have two accessible points of entry.  One can be a sloped ramp with support rail, while the other can be a motorized lift.

Wading pools have to be made with an accessible side that leads into the deepest part.  This ramp does not have to have handrails.

If there are several spas at a facility, at least one needs to be handicapped accessible.  The entrance can be a pool lift or a transfer wall.  A transfer wall is a wall of the spa or pool which is equipped with a grab bar and is designed to ease entry into the pool or spa.

Pool lifts are required to be located where the water is no more than four feet deep so that an assistant can be standing in the water helping the disabled person into the water.  The seat of the pool lift does not have to have a back, but it does need to be from 16 to 19 inches high and at least 16 inches wide. The pool lift seat must also provide a foot rest.  It also has to have clearance space on the deck surface in front of the seat so that it can be accessed by a person in a wheelchair.

Public pools are encouraged to have several specially designed aquatic wheelchairs available that can be pushed right into the water without damaging any mechanical or electronic parts.