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IMPORTANT
– PLEASE
READ
Dear Pool Owner:
MANY CONSUMERS
ARE UNSURE AS TO WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A POOL ALARM. CONSUMERS
HAVE QUESTIONS SUCH AS; ARE POOL ALARMS SAFE? DO THEY WORK? WHAT FEATURES
SHOULD THEY HAVE SO THAT I KNOW THAT I AM BUYING A SAFE PRODUCT?
HERE
IS THE ANSWER!
The
United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) a government
agency dedicated to keeping you, the consumer, safe from dangerous products,
asked ASTM International to develop safety and performance requirements
for pool alarms in the year 2000. ASTM International is an organization
that sets performance and safety standards to help insure that the products
you buy are safe and perform as intended.
The
purpose of the request from the CPSC to ASTM was to establish an International
Safety Standard for Pool Alarms. A committee of safety experts was formed
by ASTM. The Safety and Performance Standard entitled - ASTM
F 2208 was produced. The ASTM Standard for Pool Alarms has
general performance and safety requirements as well as test procedures
for each type of pool alarm. Some of the basic requirements of the ASTM
Pool Alarm Standard are: alarms shall sound at the pool and in the house
via a remote receiver, alarms must have an on/off indicator, alarms
shall have a minimum sound pressure of 85 decibels at 10 feet, alarms
must have a low battery indicator, and alarms must automatically reset.
There
is a very thorough testing procedure for each type of alarm. The alarm
must sound in 20 seconds or less when the test subject (a child intrusion
simulator that is the average size of a one year old child weighing
18 lbs.) enters the pool. There are also tests for each type of alarm
so that they will not false alarm during normal conditions according
to the standard, such as (light wind and rain as well as small objects
entering the pool).
As
a consumer if you want to see that the pool alarm you are interested
in purchasing meets the ASTM standard – look for Meets
ASTM Safety Standard – you can feel confident that you
are getting a high quality and safe alarm to use. If the alarm does
not meet ASTM F 2208 it may not be a safe product to use.
The
ASTM Standard for Pool Alarms is a voluntary standard and each manufacturer
has the responsibility for conforming and testing their alarm to the
standard. As a smart consumer you should now wonder that if a pool alarm
claims it meets ASTM F 2208, how do you know their claim is true?
HERE
IS THE ANSWER!
To
be sure a pool alarm meets the ASTM Safety Standard for Pool Alarms
it must be verified by an independent testing lab. Intertek’s
Electrical Testing Laboratories, (ETL) is one of the
world’s largest and most prestigious testing facilities. ETL tests
all kinds of products and materials to determine if they meet important
safety and performance standards. If a pool alarm has been tested by
ETL to the ASTM standard and ETL verifies that the alarm meets the ASTM
standard then you can be absolutely sure that the alarm does meet ASTM
F 2208. Pool Alarms that have been verified by ETL should have the following
marks on their packaging and advertising materials.
Be
a SMART CONSUMER and look for the ETL-Verified mark
indicating compliance to ASTM F 2208. The Poolguard In-Ground and Above-Ground
Pool Alarms have been verified by ETL and do meet ASTM F 2208.
For More Information
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