Pool Removal: Easier Said Than Done

The editorial, “How to Avert the ‘Drowning’ Season” (May 10), states that in order to avert a tragedy this drowning season, a county committee identified that the most effective protection is to remove the hazard. Simply, don’t have a pool or spa if you have a child under the age of 5.

The committee’s recommendation is much easier said than done. In unincorporated sections of Orange County, it’s easier and cheaper to sell the house than remove the pool.

Not wanting to risk the health or safety of our 3-year-old daughter, we decided to remove a swimming pool from our newly purchased home. After an 11-week odyssey costing nearly $6,500, the pool was finally gone. During this adventure, we learned several things:

* An extremely small number of hard-to-find contractors are willing to perform this task.

* It was necessary for our contractor to explain pool removal procedures to the county building inspector at the job site, because he was unaware of the process and procedures used.

* Living in an unincorporated area of the county, we were required to pay $865.40 in county building permit fees for removal of the pool.

* We were required to supply independent geological reports to the county at a cost of more than $900.

* Some cities in the county require only a $15 permit fee and no geological reports to remove a pool.

* In some incorporated county cities, you can hire the contractor, complete the work and have your permits signed off in as little as five days. (Ours took 79 days.)

I know how difficult and trying this obscene county process was on my family. I shudder to think what it would have been like for my family if the pool removal had been the result of a child drowning.

I hope the county committee made an effort to look at the reality of their recommendation as well, because this bureaucracy is where a real threat to the health and safety of county residents exists.

GARY MORLOCK, Rossmoor