Exec Dies In Faulty Jacuzzi

[Farma]

I know it's not a swimming pool but pools have drains too.

Exec dies in faulty jacuzzi

From correspondents in Singapore

December 08, 2006 01:33pm

A GERMAN executive died in a whirlpool bath at a Singapore apartment after being sucked to the bottom.

Police did not release the name of the victim, who was in his late 30s and had recently arrived in the city-state but The Straits Times newspaper named him as Arndt Starke, the Asia finance director for German firm Schott AG.

The Straits Times said Mr Starke was found with his stomach stuck to a suction drain in the whirlpool.

A grille over the hole was broken and he had apparently been sucked to the bottom, it said.

The newspaper said his fiancee, who was also in the pool, had screamed for help but the suction was so powerful that four men who tried to rescue Mr Starke could not pull him out.

Source http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...003402,00.html#

[kayo]

Hm. Many years ago I was a lifeguard in, among other venues, a swimming pool entertainment complex.

A lady was in one of the jacuzzi's and while dipping under water, her hair got caught in the suction exit.

It is so powerful that there was no way we could get her hair lose. The pump controls were quite far away on an another level, but thankfully one of our crew had the intelligence torun to the office and grab some scissors.

The lady left with a lot less hair, but her life intact.

She would definitly have drowned otherwise.

She would have drowned otherwise.

[Chang_paarp]

In most modern "spas / jacuzzis" there are multiple suction points that help prevent this type of accident. The suction of a 2 - 4 hp pump can be very strong. I would guess that the swirl pool mentioned is of the older type.

Also as said the grill that covered the suction point was broken. In commercial installations in Oz the standard for that type of fitting is stainless steel. Most places would turn the pool/spa off if a safety cover was broken or missing, not all, just the ones who value return customers, but the incident did not happen in Oz.

[steve73]

Even the multi entry types can suck in hair, that then gets entangled into the pump impellor.

you need a good length of suction piping, especially if you have really long hair - like so many of the lovely ladies around here have.

[Chaichara]

It is now construction LAW in many countries that spas/swimming pools have a minimum of two, interconnected maindrains or suction points at least one metre apart. Some laws also require the additional saftey of a suction surge cut-off to stop the pump(s).

The grids over the drains must be scientifically designed not to cause a vortex above them and they have slots around a raised lip round the bottom edge.