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The last kiddie pool in Winona County was shut down June 27 after children swimming in Lewiston’s wading pool suffered skin rashes, prompting parents to contact the Minnesota Department of Health.
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The Lewiston kiddie pool sits half full of water and empty of kids on Wednesday since it was closed down in the end of June. Winona County Enivronmental Services shut it down after a few incidents with children receiving chemical burns. It was the last kiddie pool in Winona County. (photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News) |
Winona County Environ-mental Services Supervisor Ross Dunsmoor said wading pools are difficult to disinfect because their shallow depth allows the sun to heat them, causing the water to evaporate much faster than in a big pool.
“It’s a constant battle,” he said. “They’re nice but very labor intensive. You’re constantly monitoring and adjusting the chemicals.”
About seven children suffered rashes — mostly on their legs — after swimming in the Lewiston wading pool on June 16, according to Lewiston officials and Dunsmoor.
It’s unknown what caused the contamination in Lewiston’s kiddie pool, Dunsmoor said, but it has been “limping along for a while.” Since it was built in 1969 in a bog area, small cracks have been developing.
Lewiston resident Holly Hammann said her 4-year-old daughter swam in the pool for a couple of hours that day and got minor skin burns for a couple days.
“It looked like the chicken pox,” Hammann said. “She wasn’t in pain. (She) didn’t have a severe reaction like the other kids.”
Hammann wasn’t upset about the incident. She says it’s one of those things that happen.
Greta Verthiein, the pool’s manager since 1998, said only once before did kids break out in rashes, but nothing to the extent of last month’s incident.
“It was a hot week and there were a lot of kids in here. That’ll do it. It’s such a little pool so it’s hard to maintain,” Verthiein said. “The sun really burns off the chemicals real fast. I think the doctor said it was a combination of a lot of kids, heat, what kids were wearing, diaper rash cream, sunscreen — nothing no one did, it just happened.”
Kiddie pools throughout the area have been drained and closed, mostly replaced with newer models that allow toddlers to get wet without getting in over their heads. Winona’s Bob Walsh Aquatic Center features a “zero depth” pool that gets gradually deeper like a beach. St. Charles has the same setup. The last kiddie pool in La Crosse County — at Myrick Park in La Crosse — was closed this year and is scheduled to be replaced with a new “spray park.”
If properly maintained and filtered, wading pools pose are safe, said Nicole Hunger, a registered sanitarian for Trempealeau County. Blair and Trempealeau still have kiddie pools.
“(Those) systems are older pools and circulation is not as good, but I don’t know if they’re any more inefficient than other pools,” said Hunger, who inspects pools monthly in Trempealeau County. “A lot of it comes down to staff training and that’s always a struggle.”
Both of Lewiston’s pools exceeded the state standard for chlorine levels in a June 25 inspection.
Dunsmoor said high levels of chlorine in the morning are not unusual because pools usually put in enough to last throughout the day.
Several other minor violations were cited in the inspection report: records of morning pool tests were not available on site and the flow meter for the large pool was not working properly.
A group of Lewiston residents have been proposing the city build a new $1.7 million pool, but the city council and city administrator Barb Hampel have held off on providing financial support.
Reporter Amber Dulek can be reached at (507) 453-3513 or amber.dulek@lee.net.
