Pool Alarms

In Florida, Arizona, California and more than a dozen other states, childhood drowning accidents are a top cause of fatality for kids under the age of 5 years. If you’re a parent who owns a residential swimming pool, then a swimming pool alarm is an essential form of protection that needs to be installed in your backyard oasis to lower the potential of such aforementioned accidents. With so many pool alarms on the market though, it may be difficult for pool owners to choose.


Essentially, there are four varieties of swimming pool alarm: surface wave sensors, subsurface disturbance sensors, wristband sensors and infrared motion detection systems. The first type, surface-wave sensors, floats on the surface of your pool and gauges disturbances in the water. By contrast, a subsurface disturbance sensor is attached to your pool pool’s side, and part of the sensor sits below the water's surface and measures disturbances both above and beneath the water. The third type, called a wristband sensor, consists of a portable device that’s worn like a wristwatch by your kids, and an alarm is activated if the sensor is immersed. The final type is called an infrared motion detection system, which sets off an alarm when anything enters the beam path surrounding the pool’s circumference.

According to studies, surface wave sensors didn’t perform nearly as well as subsurface disturbance sensors when test objects were tossed into the pool. Reputedly, subsurface disturbance sensors are “more consistent” in alarming and “less likely to false alarm” than their surface counterparts. The wristband sensor was found to signal whenever submerged in pool or exposed to other water sources, such as that from a faucet or hose. And while infrared systems were found to be extremely effective, the incidence of a false alarm was also found to be high. Notably, some alarm systems are a hybrid of these systems, including subsurface disturbance sensors with motion detection and wristband devices to increase the level of protection.

Buying a Pool Alarm: Things to Consider

Although pool alarms might be equipped with additional amenities than the ones included above, what follows is a breakdown of recommended features to consider when shopping for a pool alarm for use in your home’s residential swimming pool:

• It should be simple to install, easy to maintain and tamper resistant.

• Remote receivers should have a 200-foot or longer range.

• Both the alarm and receiver should have a system of indicating low battery power.

• The alarm should be whichever type is recommended for your pool’s particular dimensions.

• It also needs to be able to sense the submersion of small objects around 15 lbs. (the approximate weight of a year-old kid).

• The alarm emitted needs to be really loud and very recognizable, and it should activate within less than 20 seconds of when a kid-sized object is thrown into the pool.

Some of the top brands include Safety Turtle, which offers gate and immersion alarms; All-Safe Poolguard Inground Pool alarms; and the MG International Sensor Espio. Once you choose a pool alarm, you’ll need to regularly test it and maintain it to ensure maximum efficiency.

Of course, the most essential and safest way to protect your kids from suffering a drowning accident involves providing careful and consistent supervision by a trusted guardian. Although pool alarms and other safety measures (barriers, for instance) undoubtedly allow for an extra level of safety, you should never depend upon them as your sole layer of defense against accidental drowning. As with almost any other aspect of parenting, vigilance and emergency preparedness are, indeed, the name of the game.