When a friend suggested taking their children to the new Scioto Mile fountains on Tuesday, Lynn Cunningham was amenable to the idea.
“I said, ‘Sure, but did you hear what happened last week?’ ” recalled the Newark resident, referring to a fecal incident that compelled Columbus officials to temporarily close the attraction on July 27.
Undeterred, the two families packed up and headed Downtown. Just after arriving, though, they learned that the fountains had been shut down again — for the same reason.
The spigots, workers said, would remain off for several hours until the water was sanitized.
“We planned a whole afternoon here,” said Cunningham, who was with her 12-year-old son and a friend and her daughter.
Now, the women aren’t sure they’ll return.
Fecal-related problems in fountains and pools aren’t new, but they’ve taken on a higher profile this summer — in part because of the popularity of the new Downtown spray park, which has been closed for such cleanups three times since it opened on July 7.
Likewise, pool stool was at the root of a controversy in Lancaster last month after 65 children were told to lower their bathing suits for inspection because, for the fourth time in two weeks, feces had been found in the water at the Robert K. Fox Family YMCA.
The North Orange Aquatic Center in Lewis Center, meanwhile, had cleaned up 11 underwater bowel movements by mid-July — an abnormally high number for that point in the summer, the Orange Township maintenance and parks director told trustees last month at a public meeting.
The heightened attention given such incidents doesn’t necessarily signal a greater problem, said Joe Harrod, an environmental-health program coordinator for Columbus Public Health, which annually inspects and licenses about 1,000 central Ohio pools, spas and spray parks.
“We don’t really see any rises in it — these happen regularly,” Harrod said. “We just make sure that (pools) are following the proper CDC guidelines to make the proper corrections.”
Those procedures, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, require pool employees to clear guests from the water, then remove the solid fecal matter, increase the level of disinfectant (typically liquid chlorine) and allow enough time for re-circulation throughout — which, depending on the severity, can take as little as 20 minutes.
Severe diarrhea in a pool, on the other hand, might force a 24-hour closure.
Pool operators aren’t required to drain the water after an accident, Harrod said, but the water must contain a chlorine level of 1 part per million or greater before re-entry is permitted.
As for spray parks — growing in number and popularity — the Ohio Department of Health mandated this year that they undergo similar licensing and inspection. Because the smaller reserve of water used by such venues circulates more constantly, their chlorination must register at 2 parts per million.
All the venues must log all fecal-related incidents, Harrod said. Although they aren’t required to submit the reports to the public-health agency, he said, inspectors review the records during unannounced visits.
For operators of the attractions, news of feces in the water can carry a public-relations price, sometimes tainting perceptions of a venue’s cleanliness.
To that end, Columbus officials are trying to be proactive with the Scioto Mile fountains.
This week, they will begin enforcing 10-minute rest periods every two hours, said Terri Leist, spokeswoman for the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department, which manages the park.
The move follows the three fecal incidents — all of which are thought to have involved children ages 8 to 10 too engaged to take a break, even though restrooms are steps away.
Leist urged parents and caregivers to keep a close eye on their children.
“Accidents are going to happen,” she said. “But we need to make sure everyone is doing their due diligence.”
The Olentangy Swim Association, a private pool in Powell that dealt with a serious outbreak of cryptosporidium in 2000, requires swim diapers for young guests who aren’t toilet-trained.
The Worthington Community Center, the Groveport Aquatic Center and the two Hilliard swim complexes do the same, with all but Groveport offering swim diapers for sale.
The four working pools operated by Columbus Recreation and Parks each experiences three to four fecal contaminations a year, said John Gloyd, the city’s aquatics director, who urged parents to report an accident as soon as possible to speed cleanup.
“It benefits everybody,” he said.
By contrast, Hilliard closes one of the seven pools at its complexes every day because of fecal incidents, said Heather Ernst, recreation program manager for the Hilliard Recreation and Parks Department.
Patterns, though, are few.
After a fecal-free June, the Reed Road Water Park in Upper Arlington dealt with eight such incidents in July — when the city’s two pools faced a combined four incidents.
In July 2010, on the other hand, only a few of the 11 toilet mishaps occurred at the water park.
“It’s frustrating for our patrons,” said Lee Spitzer, the Upper Arlington aquatics and tennis facilities manager.
“You can be the best-run facility in the world, and you’re going to have these issues.”
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