Giving in to swimming pool, What can I expect?

[John Pratt]

I have never big a big fan of owning a swimming pool, but LOML has pretty much broken me down. I have always been a firm believer that the best pool in the neighborhood was the one next door, that way I don't have to pay for it. For those of you who have pools, what can I expect in the areas of maintenance costs? We are looking at approx. 16' by 30' in-ground concrete (above ground is not an option). Not sure if a pool with a liner is an option with the dog in the yard. I have a concern that the dog may damage the liner getting in or out.

I know the construction costs vary greatly around the country, but it is the yearly maintenance costs that have me worried. Dad always said a pool is a hole in the ground that you throw money into, while a boat (which I want) is a hole in the water you throw money into.

Are there any "extras" that I should be looking at for the pool that you wish you had or have discovered are essential? (all the safety gear and fence are a given and I understand all the liability concerns).

[Lee Schierer]

I have never big a big fan of owning a swimming pool, but LOML has pretty much broken me down. I have always been a firm believer that the best pool in the neighborhood was the one next door, that way I don't have to pay for it. For those of you who have pools, what can I expect in the areas of maintenance costs? We are looking at approx. 16' by 30' in-ground concrete (above ground is not an option). Not sure if a pool with a liner is an option with the dog in the yard. I have a concern that the dog may damage the liner getting in or out.

I know the construction costs vary greatly around the country, but it is the yearly maintenance costs that have me worried. Dad always said a pool is a hole in the ground that you throw money into, while a boat (which I want) is a hole in the water you throw money into.

Are there any "extras" that I should be looking at for the pool that you wish you had or have discovered are essential? (all the safety gear and fence are a given and I understand all the liability concerns).

Two things that you must have with your pool. A 4' high fence with locking gates and a childproof pool cover. Even if you don't have kids, others do and you don't want someone/something small falling in your pool.

[Belinda Barfield]

John, I don't have a pool currently but I did have one in the past and daily cleaning is a must.

My SIL converted her pool to salt water and swears the maintenance is much easier and that it costs a lot less to maintain.

[glenn bradley]

Its a lot like having a boat but, you can't park it out of sight to try to forget how much its costing you ;-)

[David G Baker]

Back in the 70's I researched buying a pool and found that to properly maintain a built in pool it would have an average annual cost for upkeep, power and chemicals of around $1000 in the Sacramento California area. The cost didn't factor in the increase in property tax. That was around 40 years ago.
Belinda is correct in the fact that daily cleaning is a must along with constant filtration.
You are right about the best pool in the neighborhood is the neighbors. :D

[Rod Sheridan]

What can you expect with a pool?

Why many new friends of course.:D

Regards, Rod.

[Tom Godley]

I can't comment on the construction costs as that will depend on the pool -- but like any other project it always ends up growing :(

Most of the liner pools I have encountered are not concrete - they are steel. I have never owned one.

........ never added up all the costs -- but they can be sizable. Opening and closing a regular pool is easily $400.00 each - plus a like amount for chemicals (if all goes well). My pool in is in NJ and is open for a little more than 4 months. Factor in 8 hours of electricity each day (my pool has two pumps) plus natural gas to heat it.

I take care of my own pool during the season -- I actually like to do it. With an automatic pool cleaner and chlorinator the daily maintenance is minimal -- many days it requires nothing.

My current pool is around 20x40 -- it is a conventional sand filter using chlorine to sanitize. It is actually easier to maintain the pool chemistry in a larger pool. I have friends with all kinds of different systems that are supposedly easier and cheaper -- but never work out that way. The sand filters and chlorine are so easy and in 25 years of having pools I have never had anyone complain. Although on a smaller pool I have had a DE filter - also a great filter.


If you have a dog it is imperative that they be acclimated to the pool - even if they don't want to. They have to be trained on how to get out in case they fall in - its amazing how fast they learn where the steps are.

I like a lot of light in a pool - the fiber optic systems are really great. Having more than one skimmer really helps if you have any trees around. And having extra controllable inlets and outlets helps to maintain the temperature at different times. I can have all the water from the heater go to the shallow end so on cooler evenings when people end up just standing in the one end -- it toasty! The extra inlets also allow you to pump hot surface water to the bottom in order to heat the whole pool on warmer days

I also have three fountains that spray into the pool -- mostly to make noise -- love them-!!

[Pat Germain]

Growing up, I lived in two homes with built-in, concrete swimming pools. Here's what I learned:

- Concrete/plaster pools are far superior to pools with vinyl liners. Everyone I've known with a vinyl liner pool had constant problems with them and they had to be replaced regularly. Sure, you have to acid bathe a concrete pool once in awhile. (Don't do this yourself. I've seen many cratered pools from do-it-yourselfers.) But dollars to doughnuts you'd be replacing the liner just as often.

- Insist on a high-quality filter system for your pool. Don't go cheap here. Don't go with the cheaper sand filter. (I'm sure a sand filter is fine for Pennsylvania. But probably not in dusty Oklahoma.) There might be newer technology, but my pools had filters using diatomacious earth. My diatomacious earth filter was FAR superior to my neighbors' pools which had sand filters. You just buy a big bag of "Diatomite" and dump some into the filter after an occasional backflush.

- Insist your pool filter has a good timer. This is no big deal, is very convenient and will save electricity. If electricity rates are cheaper at night in your area, run the filter at night.

- I have also heard salt water pools are lower maintenance. I've never had one. But I can tell you that a fresh water pool requires constant chemical adjustment. My pools used chlorine and muriatic acid.

The amount of chemicals required depends on your area. When I lived in Phoenix, I had to add chlorine almost every day in the summer. The sun would quickly neutralize it. Again, my neighbors who didn't do so had green pools with algae-covered walls.

It's a good idea to test the pool water daily. Buy a good quality test kit. (Again, don't go cheap here. A good test kit isn't very expensive.) You just dip the tester into the pool water to get a sample. Then you add a few drops of a chemical to test the chorine level. Another chemical tests the PH and tells you if you need more acid. Both are based on the color of the water after you add the test chemicals. It's very easy to do.

- In SoCal and Phoenix, we tried to use the chlorine pellets that were added to a floating thing. They just didn't work. Our neighbors who used those things had green pool water. In Pennsylvania, I'm sure the floating chlorine thing would work fine. But I doubt those things would work in Oklahoma considering how hot it gets there in the summer. (I used to live near Stillwater.)

- Regular vacuuming is a must. You just connect a big hose to the filter inlet which is attached to a metal vacuum with rubber wheels. You can usually just use the vacuum for the whole pool. Sometimes you have to brush off tougher areas, then vacuum after it settles to the bottom.

- The recommendation about the fence and cover is spot-on. In fact, your homeowner's insurance will most likely require it.

- Consider installing a solar heater. It's basically just a panel on your roof through which pool water is pumped to heat from the sun. They cost almost nothing to operate and can significantly extend the number of weeks you can use your pool.

- You must absolutely, positively supervise any and all children in your pool at all times. No exceptions. No kidding. Many a neighbor kid has come over to swim and ended up drowning. Sorry to be a bit maccabre here, but thems the facts.

- Much of the expense people complain about is a direct result of lack of proper maintenance. People don't keep the chemicals adjusted. They don't backflush the filter. They don't vacuum. Then they need major maintenance.

- Almost always, when swimmers complain the pool stings their eyes, it's not from chlorine. It's actually from algae and bacteria in the pool which is a result of too little chlorine. It would take an insane amount of cholorine to make the water sting your eyes. (Eyes can become irritated after long term exposure to pool water. But if your eyes sting almost immediately, it's from a lack of maintenance.)

[Zach England]

Make sure to consult your homeowner's insurance.

[John Pratt]

Wow, thats a lot of information and greatly appreciated. I feel like I am drowning in choices and things to think about. If it were up to me, I would just let the kids use the water hose a couple days a week, but SWMBO has spoken. Thanks for all the stuff to think about. I do know a guy in an adjoining neighborhood who has a saltwater pool, but I don't know if he enjoys it or the maintenance required. I just thought it would be harder on the yard, the eyes, the skin, and the pets. I will ask him if he has any problems.

[Dan Friedrichs]

My folks have an above-ground pool, and I just want to echo the comments of Pat, re: "Invest in quality stuff now and take care of it, and the costs will be low".

If you call the "pool guy" out everytime there's a slight problem, yeah, it may get expensive. I never understood why people need someone else to "open" and "close" the pool for them - if you understand how all the pumps, filters, etc work, there is no reason you can't do this stuff yourself.

If you take good care of it, the only expense you should ever have is chlorine. And that's not expensive.

[Rick Davidson]

We have a above ground pool, but use saltwater now. We used to use chlorine but it seemed like we could never get it right and was trying to adjust it everyday. With the saltwater we never do anything and it is always right. The salt is so minimal that it doesn't bother you at all.

[Chris Harry]

What can you expect? Lots of swearing at the money pit/hole in your backyard :) Trust me from experience.

You can make it easier on yourself....saltwater generator, or at minimum a liquid chlorine (aka bleach) feeder. Check out www.troublefreepool.com and www.poolforum.com for the "BBB" method......basically take care of your pool with 3 basic ingredients right from any supermarket. Bleach, Borax, Baking soda.

I have a vinyl inground and it got a lot easier once I got a bleach feeder (saltwater generator would give you the same experience). I load it up with 8 gallons of bleach and make sure the flow setting is good and leave it. 8 gallons lasts about 2 weeks in my pool. With a steady stream of chlorine (while the pump is running), cleaning is minimal. I only really vacuum when winds pick up and drop leaves into the pool. Otherwise I just brush the sides and bottom towards the main drain (get one....a REAL main drain with a separate line plumbed back to the pump).

They arent so bad. The best pool, though, really is the neighbors. I have access to another pool too, so mine isnt necessary to me, but it came with the house and I have kids that love it.

BTW, totally agree on the fence and safety cover. Also make sure your fence has a good self-closing gate. Before we changed our fence from chain link to mesh, the gate wasnt self closing. Many a nights I ran outside in the early AM because I woke up paranoid that I hadnt closed the gate. My own kids getting hurt around the pool is one thing......someone elses stumbling into my irresponsibility is something completely different.

[Matt Meiser]

We looked at a house with an aboveground pool and I talked to our insurance co about it because if we made an offer we were going to make them remove it as part of the deal if it was an issue. They wouldn't insure the pool against damage, but our homeowners automatically covered the liability portion and didn't affect the premium at all as long as it had a locking gate. If not, they wouldn't insure us.

[Michael Weber]

Had a pool at the house we purchased a couple of years ago. Had it filled in. Best decision I ever made. :D A real headache for maintenance. What ever you do don't build it near any trees.

[Tim Morton]

I have a 30' above ground 52" pool...i throw 4-6 gallon of clorox in it during the week and i spend 15 minutes vacuuming it saturday morning, and i have the cleanest most sparking water you could imagine.

Less is more...get a good test kit and google the BBB method of cleaning pools...

Heres a start:

http://x.havuz.org/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=8027&sid=4424c7bd86730880bed439d8e4711496

It works....and its cheap.

[Tom Godley]

Most large pools use sand filters because you can purchase them in higher capacities and they can have much higher flow rates. I have around 50k gallons in my current pool and installing an integrated single DE filter in that capacity was not then possible. DE filters will remove particles that are smaller than a typical sand filter is capable of removing -- but having owned both I can not tell the difference in the water clarity.

I may not have been clear -- you definitely want an automatic feeder for the sanitizer. I have always used chlorine, but other sanitizers are available. A small constant flow keeps all the nasties at bay and reduces problems. I also have an automatic pool cleaner (Polaris) that runs off a separate pump - to clean the sides and bottom.

In a typical week -- on Thursday -- I backwash the filter and add 8 chlorine pucks to the automatic chlorinator -- it takes me maybe 10 min. Each morning I walk around with my coffee and look in the skimmers and check the bag on the Polaris. Depending on the trees and the wind I may have to switch out the cleaner bag and empty the skimmers. Checking the water chemistry is easy using simple test strips and after a while you can predict the extra needs caused by storms and heavy use. The BBB method works for me also -- keep it simple.

Getting insurance has never been an issue - lots of people have pools. Getting higher limits is prudent.

[David Weaver]

We had a pool until I moved away from home. As a kid, I liked it. I skimmed leaves off the surface for fun sometimes, but never had an obligation to do anything on it (that helped a lot).

What I didn't like was that all of my friends wanted to come over and get in the pool all the time, and I usually had enough of it and wanted to do something else.

You'll find that all of your neighbors think like you do - the best pool is the one the neighbor has. They'll prove it by being in your pool more than you are.

Look out for the assessor - the pool is the only thing you can put on your property (around here) that increases the assessed value and lowers the resale value and eliminates buyers who would otherwise look at your house.

As a final note, when I left, my parents got tired of playing with the pool, which probably took them 10 minutes a day, and put goldfish in it - no kidding. It was like that for years, they didn't have to treat the water then, and they were pleased with it. Once it sprung a leak, they had it removed and the dirt refilled and had a proper year-round fish pond with a waterfall installed.

I like the fish pond a lot better - it's more entertaining, and the little kids like the fish and the frogs as much as they'd like a pool. Older kids, maybe not so much.

[Russ Filtz]

I have a pool now and HATE IT!!! Hard to maintain, expensive. I have a salt water chlorine generator. WHEN it worked it was great, kept everything even. But it broke down at least 4 times in 3-yrs (and not cheap initially, maybe $800+). Kept frying boards or something. Last time it was out of warranty and I was not about to pour more good money into it. Went the chlorine tablet route and those things are EXPENSIVE! You can go through a $50 bucket of the stuff in weeks. Then there's the weekly shock treatments (maybe $5 a pop), algae treatments, clarifiers, cyanuric acid to stabilize, etc., etc.

Then there's the auto vacuum system that doesn't always run due to fluctuating or low suction from the filter getting clogged (when it's not getting stuck in a corner). Mines is $60 a pop and simply rinsing doesn't always do the job long term. End up buying several per year.

Run far away!

[Belinda Barfield]

Then there's the auto vacuum system that doesn't always run due to fluctuating or low suction from the filter getting clogged (when it's not getting stuck in a corner). Mines is $60 a pop and simply rinsing doesn't always do the job long term. End up buying several per year.

Run far away!

LOL . . . clogged filter just reminded me of my favorite part of having a pool. I have no kids or cleaning out the intakes would have been their job! There is nothing quite like removing the top from the intake on a hot July morning and finding a bloated bullfrog. EEEW! I quit counting how many frogs died that way. I have also removed rats and the occasional snake. I looked out the window one night and saw a snake swimming around in the pool. I got him out so at least I saved one.

We lived on 15 acres at the time so neighbors weren't an issue.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

you will adore a pool.
I bought my home in NJ, 20+ years ago.
It had a large ingrown pool built using the same equipment and methods as a building foundation of poured concrete 8" thick. Prior, I'd never thought about owning one.
Now It's like I don't want to vacation anywhere else.

"Where are you going on your Vacation?" They ask us.
We answer: "Home."

Maintenance is easy. Spring opening is the only real effort.

[Neal Clayton]

it's not as bad as people make them out to be. the only major expense every years as others have stated is getting it initially clean after you uncover it from the winter. plan on 200-300 bucks at that time in chemicals to get the water clear and free of algae. after that, just maintaining the chlorine tablets and vacuuming/netting leaves once a week until you cover it for the next winter.

[Jerome Hanby]

I'd expect to spend a considerable amount of time grouching over cleaning and maintaining the thing full time when it gets used a few times a month:eek:

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

plan on 200-300 bucks at that time in chemicals to get the water clear and free of algae. after that, just maintaining the chlorine tablets and vacuuming/netting leaves once a week until you cover it for the next winter.

That's a lot more money and effort than I ever undertook.

I don't vacuum but maybe that one time after I first open the pool up.
I use a pool cover that anchors to the concrete around the pool so leaves don't get in.
I don't use chlorine tabs they cost too much money.
When I open I use a few sacks of shock, some algicide, some floccing compound and that's pretty much it.
After that I use liquid pool bleach which is 12% Sodium hypochlorite (I just pour it in the skimmer) and a little Muriatic acid to adjust the hypochlorous acid and then during the summer maybe two boxes of Baking Soda to make the water silky.

I have solved all my "maintainence issues" involving settlement and leaves etc., by making a lead collar weight and little PVC jet nozzle for a $40.00 pool vacuum hose and rigging it up to my inlet so the thing snakes around all the time keeping the pool agitated and circulated. This keeps every thing in suspension so the filter can take it up.

Once it's open I really don't do much to it at all, except add chlorine and keep the water level up.

[Ed Kilburn]

Swimming pool = hole in the ground where you throw your money. Somewhat like a boat, except you can't sell it without giving up your home. My 2cents:D

[Paul Brinkmeyer]

I owned a home in Phx with inground pebble-tech (sp) for 8 years and loved it. I used a fairly new product, in the chlorine family, but much more stable and no smell. And less cost. anmd in 8 years no green pool. Actually everone commented on how clean you felt after getting out of the pool. Required 2 Xs per week attention in swimming season, 1 to 2 Xs per month in off season.

Make sure when you build the pool that you get a very good, and low noise motor and pump. And that they put in a cleaning port with a volume control for some kind of automatic cleaner like a gator. Gator cleaners move around the pool and clean as it filters. I would never be with-out one. If you have round edges between the walls and the bottom, some gators will even climb the wall and you will find you never have to brush. Mine would even get the "ring around the tub" pretty good and I did not have to brush much at all. And we used the pool every day in summer. I'll see if I can find the name of the stuff I used.

[Tim Morton]

All these problems make me chuckle....keeping a pool sparkling clean is super easy if you use the BBB method. It could not be easier....

I feel like i am preaching mac's to PC folks here:cool::cool::cool:

[Paul Brinkmeyer]

I use to use bleach...etc. But still had to test a lot. AND I did like the BBB method, but the AZ sun seemed to make it hard to keep the sanitation level up. Or I was not doing it right for the pool?? I always used the BBB in the spa, work good as the spa never saw the sun.
But in the pool the synergy system from OMNI was the easiest I found.


All these problems make me chuckle....keeping a pool sparkling clean is super easy if you use the BBB method. It could not be easier....

I feel like i am preaching mac's to PC folks here:cool::cool::cool:

[Chris Harry]

I use to use bleach...etc. But still had to test a lot. AND I did like the BBB method, but the AZ sun seemed to make it hard to keep the sanitation level up. Or I was not doing it right for the pool?? I always used the BBB in the spa, work good as the spa never saw the sun.
But in the pool the synergy system from OMNI was the easiest I found.

Bleach will work, but you manually need to add cyanauric acid (aka stabilizer).

UV rays will eat your bleach alive. Tablets work because they have CYA built into them. The problem with tablets is that too much CYA is a bad thing, because the only way to get rid of it is dilute the water (i.e. partial drain and refill). If your pool is only open 4 months out of the year, its not too bad, but in the case of AZ I assume it was open year-round. Tablet use would catch up to you quickly.

Bleach works great and is cheap, but its unstabilized so you need to manually add some CYA. Not a big deal, and not really costly either.

As far as a previous comment about 800.00 in chemicals, PLEASE check out www.troublefreepool.com or www.poolforum.com or the other link to BBB posted earlier.

I have my 22K gallon inground costing me about 100.00/yr for 4 or 5 months worth of chemicals. The water is perfectly balanced, crystal clear, and I rarely vacuum it because the only thing that gets into it is outside dirt (silt from the lawn, leaves, etc). No algae blooms, etc. Im actually trying to get it less than 100/yr because I think I can, Ive just been careless about how/when i fill my bleach feeder.

Electricity cost is another thing.......investigate some good efficient pumps, 2 speed is even better if you can afford it and have the wiring. You can run a 2 speed at low speed all day and it will still cost less than me running my high-efficiency single speed for 8 hours.

[Pat Germain]

I use to use bleach...etc. But still had to test a lot. AND I did like the BBB method, but the AZ sun seemed to make it hard to keep the sanitation level up.

When I lived in Arizona, we tried a few different kinds of chlorine. As I said, the tablets just didn't work at all. Liquid chlorine worked, but only briefly in the brutal Phoenix sun. We had a professional do some work on the pool and he recommended a granular chlorine. I think it was actually called something like "Arizona Granules". It was developed specifically for swimming pools in very hot climates. It came in a big, plastic tub and it had a picture of a saguaro cactus on the lid.

Whenever the test kit showed the chlorine level was getting low, I would throw a few scoops of those granules in the deep end of the pool and it was good to go for several days. In the winter, it didn't take much at all. I added chlorine only once in awhile.

We didn't use our pools year round, but we did keep them filled and clean all winter. I think that made maintenance much easier. Obviously, you can't do this in a cold climate.

[Tim Morton]

When I lived in Arizona, we tried a few different kinds of chlorine. As I said, the tablets just didn't work at all. Liquid chlorine worked, but only briefly in the brutal Phoenix sun. We had a professional do some work on the pool and he recommended a granular chlorine. I think it was actually called something like "Arizona Granules". It was developed specifically for swimming pools in very hot climates. It came in a big, plastic tub and it had a picture of a saguaro cactus on the lid.

Whenever the test kit showed the chlorine level was getting low, I would throw a few scoops of those granules in the deep end of the pool and it was good to go for several days. In the winter, it didn't take much at all. I added chlorine only once in awhile.

We didn't use our pools year round, but we did keep them filled and clean all winter. I think that made maintenance much easier. Obviously, you can't do this in a cold climate.

Yes, keep the CYA levels up, and add bleach ONLY at night....enough so that in the morning it is at 3...it will mostly like deplensign during the day but no amount of CYA level will help if you add bleach during the day.

Just keep a few tablets of stabilized chlorine in the skimmers.

[Jim King]

I have had three beautiful pools here in the Amazon over the years and my suggestion would be that when you have it finished fill it with a good soil mixture and grow tomatoes.

[Chuck Saunders]

I maintained a public pool using bleach at 6ppm and never had a problem. Had acid - never used, had baking soda - never used. Incoming water must have done well enough to keep the pool from going one way or another. Ben at poolsolutions gives good advise. If you smell chlorine or your eyes burn, you are low on chlorine. The only problem with a pool is it is like a pet, you got to take care of them every day.

[David Weaver]

Did you plan on where you're going to get the goldfish yet?

You can start with little ones. They get really big if you leave them in the pool, and they make new ones of their own. Trust me. Costs a lot less to feed the fish than it does to keep the pool water clean.

[Bill Cunningham]

Hmmm were up to 8 dead kids in Southern Ontario from pools in the last two weeks.. You should install something much safer, like a shooting range!:cool:

[Dave Lehnert]

I remember a show on TV a few years ago they had the usual studio audience. The guest told the audience he had invented a product that would be used by adults and kids. Study had shown that (forget the number) Adults and (300 ?) kids would be killed using it every year. Went on how there was no law to prevent him from selling this product and so on.
The audience was mad yelling at him, some were about in tears about him killing kids with his product.
In the end they relieved the product they were talking about was a swimming pool. Many of the upset parents in the audience in fact owned a pool.

[John Pratt]

Hmmm were up to 8 dead kids in Southern Ontario from pools in the last two weeks.. You should install something much safer, like a shooting range!:cool:

Ummmm, strangely enough, I already have a shooting area on the property. All my kids are very aware and trained in the safety, use, and dangers of firearms (I do, afterall, live in Oklahoma). This whole idea of a pool actually has me more worried than the guns. I get to lock up the guns when we are done and I think the guns are cheaper. If it were up to me (which it is not), I would scrap the whole idea of the pool. There are just so many choices in design, type, equipment, etc.. that my mind is about blown.

[Rick Moyer]

I didn't thoroughly read all the posts, but, I saw no mention of heating the pool. Is this possibly something you (she) might want to do too? That could get pretty expensive I would think.

As for me, I'll take air conditioning. Much less expensive and very little liability. Of course you could put fish in the pool and fish "from shore", then you wouldn't need the boat!

[Scott T Smith]

Here is an interesting statistic for you, as reported by Stephen Levit in the book "Freakanomics".

A child is 100 times more likely to have an accidental death from a swimming pool, as opposed to a firearm.

If the LOYL is not a fan of firearms, you might want to run this statisic by her to see if she would change her mind about a pool.

[Chuck Saunders]

What an amazing statistic. Were the pools kept locked up in the pool safe or just left lying around? Were the gun injuries from the guns the kids carried or the ones that they had in their bike holster? A perfect example of comparing apples and oranges. He already has a shooting range so I am thinking the gun scare tactic would be less than effective. Pools are not baby sitters, a lot fewer kids drown in supervised pools.

[Dan Karachio]

Don't listen to the grouches, having a pool is GREAT! Okay a little work, but so what? In return you can exercise, relax, entertain and after swimming, you sleep the best sleep ever. Kids love them, they bring families together and yes, you will have more friends (just sort out the leaches from the true friends). I live in a city now and miss my old pool terribly. Never again will I have a house without a pool (okay, if I lived on the water, that is different).

[Scott T Smith]

What an amazing statistic. Were the pools kept locked up in the pool safe or just left lying around? Were the gun injuries from the guns the kids carried or the ones that they had in their bike holster? A perfect example of comparing apples and oranges. He already has a shooting range so I am thinking the gun scare tactic would be less than effective. Pools are not baby sitters, a lot fewer kids drown in supervised pools.


It was a gross statistic based upon children's deaths per residential pool, and the stats that I saw were not broken out based upon supervised versus unsupervised.

According to the book, the liklihood of a child drowning in a residential pool is 1 in 11,000 in any given year.

The stat is contained on pages 149 - 150 of Freakonomics, and the gist of this section of the book was about risk assessment by parents.

Since the OP indicated that he did not want the pool, but was loosing the argument, I felt that this statistic may provide him with some additional information that could potentially sway his wife (and I too have my own 200 meter shooting range).

Scott

[Jeff Holoboski]

we live in Tucson Az. and we pray to it every day here in the summer LOL.
Jeff :)