Contaminated Water At Water Splash Parks

Health authorities began a crackdown on water splash parks as their rapid spread across Sydney has raised concerns about contaminated water and diarrhoea outbreaks.

The Baird government has now planned to change the Public Health Act to clarify that new splash parks and interactive water fountains are included in the definition of a public swimming pool.

Despite some councils scrambling to work with NSW Health to meet the swimming pool standard in time for summer, one of the most popular water splash parks at Darling Harbour, run by the state government agency Property NSW, insists it doesn’t need to. “There is a distinction between the water play park at Darling Quarter and public swimming pools which are subject to specific regulatory guidelines,” a Property NSW spokesman said.

Property NSW also did not reveal whether three new interactive water fountains that will open to the public at Darling Harbour in the next fortnight also meet the swimming pool safety standard.

The grounds at Darling Quarter are irrigated with harvested rainwater and recycled sewage.

The spokesman said the water play park was completely independent and used Sydney Water mains water. It was also filtrated and chemically treated by an automated dosing system, and was tested twice a day by an external contractor.

Mum, Cheryl, prefers to take two-year-old Anika to the splash park because she doesn’t have to get in the water with her. “We’ll take a shower straight afterwards, especially her hands. I think if you practise basic hygiene like that, it’s pretty safe. In the back of my mind I’m conscious of possible diseases floating around, but you can’t stop your life,” Ms Jackson said.

One parent, Lara, who was playing with her two-year-old son at Darling Quarter’s water park on Saturday, said she preferred it to swimming pools, which were too cold. “There’s sensory opportunities for him. So he’ll have the fountains that’ll go up and down, and all these other sensory things,” she says.

However, she pointed out some things that needed to be focused. “The only thing that I don’t like about this is there’s not really much of a standard of what you’re supposed to wear in there. So you see some kids with nappies. Some kids will go in naked … Last time we came we saw a father strip his child naked and wash her off in here, and that sort of grossed me out. Other parents had thought the child was “weeing in the water”, she said.

In March, five-year-old Chelsea Fawcett developed an eye infection that left her partially blind after playing in a water park at Elizabeth Quay, which was opened by the state government in January. West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has since apologised to the girl’s family. However, the family is considering whether it will file a case against the West Australian government.

The Elizabeth Quay water park had been closed twice in February after bacteria was detected in pipes amid hot weather.

Health Minister Jillian Skinner says NSW Health’s recommendation to include water parks as swimming pools will be included in draft legislation in 2017.

Dr Jeremy McAnulty, NSW Health director of health protection, said: “This recommendation was made because water splash parks and interactive fountains have become increasingly popular in recent years. Anecdotal local reports about these venues, as well as published international reports of diarrhoeal outbreaks, indicate splash park water can be contaminated by users or animals. Concerns about Elizabeth Quay were not the specific prompt.”

NSW Health found that water in splash parks can “rinse contaminants” from children, including faecal material and bacteria, into the water holding tank, which can then be sprayed from the tank onto other users and potentially be swallowed.

Source: Smh.com.au