THE NEW YORK TIMES: 5 million pools are recalled after at least 9 children drown

About 5 million above-ground pools are being recalled, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said Monday, citing a design flaw that has been connected to the drowning deaths of at least nine children since 2007.

The pools, which are made by Bestway, Intex and Polygroup, have a compression strap on the outside that children can use as a foothold to climb into them without a ladder or a step, the agency said.

The strap — meant to maintain the structural integrity of the pool — wraps around the pool’s vertical support legs, creating a safety hazard, according to the commission, which advised owners to immediately contact the manufacturer of their pool model to get a repair kit.

The pools were sold at retailers in the United States and Canada, including Walmart, Amazon, Costco and Target, some going back to 2002, officials said. Others were purchased as recently as 2025. The pools are 4 feet tall and higher.

In a joint statement Monday, the three companies that made the pools said they were committed to customer safety and had been actively engaged in continuously reviewing and updating product safety standards for many years. Each included a product recall notice on its website.

“The safe use of our products is important to us, and we are working together to get the word out about this recall and create a seamless process for our customers to participate,” the companies said.

The companies said that they had started working with the commission on a new safety standard in 2023 and that it was finalized in May. A representative for the companies also noted that Intex changed its pool design in 2012.

From 2007 to 2022, nine children between the ages of 22 months and 3 years drowned after gaining access to the pools by using the compression strap as a foothold, according to the commission. The drownings occurred in California, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin and Missouri.

The commission said that it was also aware of at least three other episodes, in 2011 and 2012, in which children climbed into the pools using the compression straps.

It was not clear why a recall notice for the pools had not been issued sooner.

On Monday, a spokesperson for the commission declined to comment further about the recall.

Owners can find their pool’s model number and brand name on the outside liner, the commission said.

They are eligible for a free repair kit, which uses a rope at ground level that attaches to each of the pool’s vertical support poles. Once the rope is secure, pool owners can cut away the compression strap without compromising the pool’s structural integrity, the commission said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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