SPLASH: As the weather heats up, finding...

SPLASH: As the weather heats up, finding a place to cool off won’t be hard. Orange County is home to about 91,500 residential pools, according to Leslie’s Poolmart, an industry supplier. That means there’s one back yard swimming tank for every 28 residents in the county. . . . That’s a higher rate than Los Angeles County, and about five times greater than the national average. The result for many, says Susan Tyra of the National Pool Institute’s local chapter: “You can take a vacation and never leave your back yard.”

POOL OF DREAMS: Most of those private swimming pools have one thing in common--they’re shaped like shoe boxes. But there are exceptions. For example, one Laguna Niguel pool is cut like a piano, with the steps as its keys. . . . “For some, it’s kind of a dream,” says Chuck Coventon of Curcie Pools in Anaheim. His company is bidding now on an estimated $250,000 back-yard pool project in Newport Beach--which includes a pond, aviary and cascading waterfall.

DANGER LURKS: Swimming-pool drownings remain the primary injury-related deaths in California for children under 5. Last year, a half-dozen youngsters drowned in pools here, and one fatality has already been recorded this year. County officials say most toddler pool victims are last seen indoors, meaning they wandered to their deaths. . . . Amy Dale at the Orange County Health Care Agency cautions pool owners to put up “layers of protection”--including isolation fencing, door latches and alarms.

HALF FULL: Thinking of putting in a pool? Figure about $25,000, plus more for slides, rocks and other frills. But don’t look at it as an investment--you’ll likely get burned. . . . “They’ll never get their money out the way the market is,” says Dick Matthewson, a longtime Fullerton real estate broker. That’s why water lovers today are buying houses with pools rather than building them new. . . . Industry executives say sales of new pools in the county have dropped as much as 40% during the recession.

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Cool With Pools

The county ranks second in the state in number of pools per household.

Density of pools Ventura: 1 pool per 21 households Orange: 1:28 Riverside: 1:28 Los Angeles: 1:35 San Bernardino: 1:38 California: 1:37 U.S.: 1:129 Sources: Leslie’s Poolmart, National Spa and Pool Institute