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July 05, 2007
Disturbing tale from the MN
So, I actually saw this on Digg, but a 6 year old girl in MN was partially disemboweled by a pool drain. The story doesn't talk about what exactly happened until the end but here's the deal (if you're squeamish you might want to take a pass on this). If a kid sits on a drain ina pool, the pressure of the water being sucked out can reach several hundred psi. That pressure can, in small kids, essentially suck their guts out via the rectum.
Holy crap. This seems like a pretty freaking scary thing and the article says that it's happened a few times. I don't really know what to say other than "wow....really?"
Posted by bucjos at July 5, 2007 11:00 AM
Comments
Not to say it's not dangerous, but unless the pool area is pressurized, given a wading pool is likely 2 feet deep, even if the pump is able to achieve a perfect vacuum (highly unlikely), it'd still only be a bit under 16psi. You might be able to peak over that for an instant due to inertia of the water, but I doubt anywhere near "several hundred pounds per square inch". Maybe "several hundred pounds of pressure" given a 4"x4" drain opening. After getting around the fact the article seems written to scare people into thinking the pool pumps are ridiculously powerful, I think a better thought is how fragile the human body can be and how parents should pay closer attention and be aware of safety issues.
Posted by: Jeremy at July 5, 2007 11:36 PM
no more laxatives for me
Posted by: skip at July 9, 2007 10:08 AM