Once infectious material enters the water, disinfection systems that malfunction or are inadequate can allow pathogens to flow from every nozzle. Splash pads are not unique in dealing with sick children in poopy swim diapers, but they are unique in the way they are regulated. That is, in some places they are not regulated at all. Splash pads are designed so that there is no standing water, reducing the risk of drowning for young children. But because they have no standing water, they are sometimes considered exempt from local health regulations. Before 2000, there were only 13 states that regulated splash pads. While many states have since added regulations, some only did so after outbreaks linked to splash pads were reported.
Downpour of diseases
The most important method to keep recreational water free of infectious viruses and bacteria is chlorination. However, maintaining germicidal chlorine concentrations is especially difficult for splash pads because the jets and sprays aerosolize chlorine, causing the concentration to drop.
Yet for most splash pad-related outbreaks, standard chlorine concentrations are not sufficient anyway. The most common pathogen that causes an outbreak in splash spots is the parasite cryptosporidium, also called Crypto. The parasite's hardy spores, called oocysts, are extremely tolerant of chlorine and survive for more than seven days in water with the standard chlorine concentration (1 ppm free chlorine). (Other germs die within minutes.) In splash pads that may not even have the standard chlorine concentration, Crypto thrives and can cause massive outbreaks.
In 2023, the CDC recommended new health codes calling for “secondary disinfection” methods to keep Crypto at bay, including disinfection systems that use ozone or ultraviolet light. Another possible solution is to use “single-pass” splash guards that do not recirculate water.
To prevent splash pads from becoming geysers of gastrointestinal parasites and pathogens, several changes need to occur, CDC experts say.
“Preventing outbreaks of waterborne diseases at splash pads requires changes in user behavior; updates to the recreation site code; and improved facility design, construction, operation, and management,” they conclude. But it all has to start with preventing children from sitting on jets and drinking the water.
