There is nothing I like more than when I get to invite my friends and family over for a nice splash in my swimming pool while throwing some burgers and hot dogs on the grill. Some of the guests will bring some side dishes, others may bring some soda, sweet tea or alcoholic beverages of their choice. However there is one item I always ban and that is glass bottles. If you are planning a pool party I recommend you do the same and if you are asked the ultimate question of “Why do you not allow glass bottles?” I will share of few answers you can give below.
Allowing glass bottles in your swimming pool is dangerous and should not be allowed. If glass gets broken in or near your pool area there is a great risk of someone becoming injured walking bare foot around the area. If broken glass enters the pool water it becomes invisible to the naked eye and poses a threat to all swimmers inside the pool as well. Glass could also damage the pool liner and completely draining the water may be required if the glass cannot be safely removed.
Glass may get broken on the pool deck.
Don’t underestimate the dangers of having bottles or glass near the pool even when it isn’t inside the water. People must walk toward the pool from somewhere to enter the pool water and most of the time when doing so they have no shoes on. Swimming is the only sport that brings shoes off more than anything else you can do as a pass time.
Some swimmers will decide they need a tan. Many of the swimmers will only jump in the water on occasion, then spend much of the time outside of the water tanning or being social while never replacing there shoes when outside. This leaves them vulnerable to anything that is on the ground near the picnic tables and tanning chairs.
Lets play a game! When kids and adults are entertaining themselves with beach balls, basketballs, water guns and other fun games while swimming there is a likelihood that there will at some point be a foul ball. Meaning that basketball that was supposed to go inside the floating basketball goal didn’t even hit the water, or when the volleyball was served it also was way outside of the boundaries. This will require someone to jump out of the water and chase it down bare foot and if there is any broken glass that they could step on is a danger and could cause minor or in some cases serious injury.
A brief storm or wind gust could change things fast. If you have an above ground swimming pool with a deck around it or an underground pool, any glass or bottles on the deck or tables are at the weathers mercy.
In some parts of the country such as Oklahoma where I am there can be high to moderate winds much of the summer. Should a strong gust of wind occur, those glass bottles could be blown off the the tables or deck. They may also be blown into the water or worst shattered on the ground at impact.
If your pool has grass around the area, the broken glass will be hidden in the blades of grass and not visibly noticeable. Even if you don’t have a grass surrounding, concrete and wood decks with water splashes on them will make the broken glass harder to see especially when one isn’t anticipating such debris to be present.
Have you ever been walking outside and said ouch, or quite possibly some other profane word at the top of your lungs when walking bare foot?
Whether you stepped on a rock, pointy stick, sticker patch, scorpions tail (well lets hope that wasn’t it) or even a piece of broken glass you know how much that hurt and you wouldn’t want any of your pool guests to endure any injury or discomfort.
Broken glass is virtually invisible inside pool water.
As you know most glass is clear or either a color in which would be hard to be seen if inside pool water or on the ground.
This is why many times someone steps on glass even inside there own house without knowing it was there until it was too late.
If you were to throw an empty bottle in your swimming pool that was not broken and it floats, fills up with water and then sinks you would be able to spot it with little effort assuming your pool water is clear, but even then it wouldn’t be flashy or easy to see right away.
If that bottle however was a broken piece of glass the size of a quarter it would be transparent and would look as though nothing was there. The smaller the piece of glass, the harder it would be to spot with the naked eye.
Now add a few splashes, waves, the pump returning the clean water back to the pool which causes water motion and the pool bottom will be harder to see.
A couple years ago a man in Massachusetts was injured after going down a slide and having a piece of broken glass becoming injected inside his foot according to The Expert Institute. These injuries caused permanent nerve damage and will never completely heal. This accident could have been avoided if the bar near the swimming pool did not serve alcohol in glass containers since the glass found inside the water was consistent with the style of alcohol bottles served at the poolside bar.
Why not be safe and use cans instead. Should a can fall into the water it will float and be able to be removed easily. There are even laws in some cities not allowing glassware in any designated public pool areas because of the risks it adds to the other public guests enjoying their stay. If they do allow glass it is typically required to be a particular color that is opposite of the pool liner and ground that would be able to be found easily and quickly should the need arise.
Vacuuming or draining may be required. If you get an extensive amount of glass in your pool (or even a little bit) and you cannot get it out safely, you may need to either vacuum or completely drain the water. Small particles of glass floating in the water is extremely dangerous and could get in a swimmers eye, mouth of other body part that can lead to serious consequences. Just say NO to glass around your swimming pool.
Chilled liquid in a glass container could shatter if heated quickly.
This is worth mentioning especially for those that use heated pools, hot tubs or when the water is much warmer than normal.
While the risk is lower for such an event, it definitely is not impossible. Cold glass that is met with hot or very warm water rapidly can cause the glass to immediately shatter in hundreds of pieces or a few large pieces. Either way it can ruin a pool party quickly.
This is the same principle taught in the winter when you are told to never pour a glass of hot water on your cars windshield in the morning to try and melt ice so you can hurry up and get to work. By doing this it can actually cause your windshield to crack or break.
A hot tub is the most susceptible for this kind of accident to happen as the water temperature can approach 100 degrees during that steamy spa treatment.
The water though in a swimming pool can be quite warm as well and if you have a beer bottle that is 33 degrees come in contact with water that is near 90 degrees, it could be enough to cause the glass to go into shock and crack or shatter. That would be a 50 degree swing instantly and if you are short on luck one day, the threat of your bottle breaking is there.
Broken glass accidents happen.
We are all human and while no one at your party will intentionally break a bottle, it is best to be safe.
You may have had several swims with a wine glass or bottle of your favorite beverage and never once dropped it or at worst broken it.
It however only takes one time and the chance of broken glass will increase as the number of party-goers increase. It is also safe to mention that if there is any broken glass around the swimming pool, the chance of someone getting injured increases as well for every additional person joining your party.
Just keep the glass bottles either inside or at a fair distance from the pool area and you will have a much safer and better experience for everyone.