1 Spray cannons and other splashpad amenities are designed to shoot water into kids? faces. While fun, this also encourages swallowing of water, which leads to RWIs if the water is improperly treated.
2 Overspray and splashing can create a muddy area around the spraypad. That in turn gets tracked onto the pad and drains into the system. Mud, grass and debris can clog up filters and stop water from being properly maintained.
3 Other spraypark features drench children with water. This is the equivalent of taking a shower. That water then is drained into the surge tank and recirculated throughout the spraypark, potentially infecting other patrons.
4 Some spraypark features include bubblers, which invite children to squat over them. It is not uncommon to see diapered children doing this. Fecal contaminants are one of the main causes of RWIs.
5 Water collected in surge tanks is short-cycled and does not get treated properly. This water then is pumped back through the system and the play features, leading to potential transmission of RWIs. This is the result of having few good codes or design criteria for spraypark turnover rates. Turnover rates based on pools aren?t high enough for the small amount of water in a spraypark.
6 Pumps and filters often are improperly sized for the user load and not adequate to maintain water quality. As a backup, the state of New York is requiring ultraviolet sanitation, but even that is not fail-proof.