Swimming Pool and Spa Injuries
Kevin Lancaster began to develop his team’s expertise in pool-injury cases when he litigated an exploding-pool-filter case which settled in 1998 for $1.6 million. Over the last decade, the Lancaster Trial Team has successfully resolved other pool-injury cases—including three exploding-pool-filter cases.
- Ongoing Pool Injury Cases
- Pool Safety Advocates
- How a Pool Filter Can Kill You
- Pool-Filter Safety Tips from The Veen Firm
- Other Pool Dangers
Ongoing Pool Injury Cases
The Lancaster Trial Team is currently litigating two more exploding-pool-filter cases. One case involves a filter whose lid exploded in a man’s face and caused brain damage. The case was filed in Riverside County, California. The other case involves a filter which exploded and killed a man. After the filter’s lid blew into the man’s head, the lid rocketed skyward and blew a hole in the home’s roof. (See photos below.) The case was filed in Orange County, California.
News: Read the story, Danville woman crusades against pool filters that killed husband, in the Contra Costa Times
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Hole in victim's home's roof caused by pool filter
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Hole in victim's home's roof caused by pool filter
Pool Safety Advocates
In 2008, the Lancaster Trial Team represented a client whose husband was killed in his backyard by an exploding pool filter. After settling the case, the Lancaster Trial Team helped the client launch a website—poolsafetyadvocates.org—to educate the public about the dangers connected with pool filters and other pool and spa equipment.
How A Pool Filter Can Kill You
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A typical pool filter
A swimming pool or spa filter can kill or maim you because it operates under pressure and can explode. A pool filter typically consists of a two-piece tank which has a bottom and a top. (See photo right.)
A fastener secures the top to the bottom so that the top does not blow off. Some fasteners—such as bolts— secure the top to the bottom better than other fasteners. But some fasteners—such as a clamp—can fail and allow the filter top to blow off with tremendous force. (See photo below.)
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Broken weld on pool filter
For example, in 2004, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 8,500 Sta-Rite and Aquatools brand pool filters because the filters' fastener "can disengage from the lower tank shell allowing the top shell of the filter to blow off causing injury to nearby consumers." (See http://www.cpsc.gov/ CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml04/04072.html.)
Some pool filters are equipped with an automatic air-relief valve designed to release air trapped inside the filter so that it doesn’t explode. Unfortunately, air-relief valves sometimes don’t work—they fail to release air from the filter. When this happens, the entrapped air pressurizes the filter, which can cause it to explode.
Hundreds of pool filter explosions have been reported. The Veen Firm has collected U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission accident reports, some of which can be viewed here.
Pool-Filter Safety Tips from The Veen Firm
Some ways to avoid injury around a pool filter:
- stand at least two feet away from the filter;
- never lean over the filter when it is on;
- exercise extreme caution around any pool filter.
Other Pool Dangers
Exploding pool filters are not the only danger around swimming pools or spas. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that "In California, Arizona and Florida, drowning was the leading cause of accidental death in and around the home for children under the age of 5 years." (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/pool.pdf.) Seventy-seven percent of the fatal or near-fatal accidents occurred when children were missing for five minutes or less.
A common killer of children in pools is drain entrapment. During "hold your breath games," a pool or spa drain can suck a child’s hair into the drain, entangling the hair and drowning the child. Other dangers include body entrapment.
Diligent supervision is the best way to prevent your child from suffering a pool or spa accident. Following the tips in Safety Barrier Guidelines for Home Pools can also help prevent a tragedy. (See http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/pool.pdf.)