I’ve heard that a person got sucked by a drain in a swimming pool and had their intestines pulled out their rear because of the suction. Is it true? Are drains strong enough that you couldn’t pull away? Would the size of the drain be a factor?
Apologies if this double posts–
Yes, it does happen, but more often to children than adults because of their smaller size and lesser strength. There’s a case detailed in the book Too Scared to Cry (about childhood trauma).
Here’s a link to a quick report: http://www.cpsc.gov/LIBRARY/FOIA/FOIA97/OS/BP9713.PDF
No, it isn’t true. People have gotten fingers and other ahem members caught in pool intakes, but rarely has permanent injury resulted. The pressure differential is not even close to being high enough to “suck out” the intestines, even if it were possible to get a good seal in that area of the body. In fact, I’m not at all sure it’s possible even with very high suction.
Put your hand on one of these intakes. You can pull it away quite easily.
This has happened at least once before. It was in Cary, NC in the early 1990’s. I was a lifeguard at a pool in Raleigh, about 10 miles away. A three-year-old girl was sitting on the drain which had it’s cover removed in a wading pool, and the suction pulled out about for or five inches of her large intestines.
So no: this is not an Urban Legend, and no: you do not have to worry. (The following is what I told many, many worried parents the week folowing the barrage of news reports.)
The pool in Cary was built to code in the 1900’s, but it was never updated to current standards. The primary culprit was that there was only one drain and no skimmer, which means the pump had only one path for suction. When that path was blocked, the pump did the only thing it could do, which was to work harder.
Pools built to current code have at least three ways to prevent this from happening. First all wading/kiddie pools have two drains, so if one is blocked, the suction is shifted to the second. Second, they also have a skimmer. That’s the doohicky with the door that swallows all the rubber duckies and barbie dolls. If both drains are blocked, the suction shifts to the skimmer. Finally, the drains are fitted with a non-vortex drain cover which cannot come off. A non-vortec drain cover is one of those solid domed covers with the intakes along the sides.
In answer to your last question, yes pools drains are that powerful. In order to keep the water clean, they will move hundreds of gallons everyminute.
I hope this helps.
Hmmm. I stand corrected. I’ve never heard of this before, but some searching turns up other (rare) instances. I think I’ll skip the skinny-dipping in the future!
Not only has it happened,but the lawyer who sued the company who made the defective drain cover was none other than John Edwards.
If I remember correctly, this case is one of the ones that made presidential candidate John Edwards (the attorney for the victim) a very wealthy man. I’ll look for a cite on that.
Then again, maybe I won’t. St. Urho beat me to it.
Chuck Palahniuk has a short story in the March issue of Playboy on this very subject.
This answers some of my questions, but it leaves me with new ones. I appreciate everyones replies, and hope you will also answer my new questions.
Did the little girl live? Is it no longer possible to be stuck to a drain because of the new systems and requirements? Is there anything you can do if you do get stuck?
Thanks again for all your replies and information. I’m not exactly satisfied but much closer than before and I’ll continue to look and ask. Thanks again and for the continued help.
Upon further research, it seems to me that being trapped in a pool is possible IF the drain is defective, broken, or partially installed(missing pieces). This leads to my newest and probably last question if answered fully: Can you only be stuck to a drain (now-a-days) if it is defective?
Is it possible to create enough suction orally to pull the intestines out of the body?
Well, I’ve heard tell of a woman able to do something similar with a golf ball and a garden hose.
IIRC, She was in emergency surgery for several hours, but she lived.
It is still possible to be stuck like the little girl was, but it would require A LOT of work. First, you’d have to break both drain covers. (A large hammer and a lot of banging wold do the trick. If the pool is completely devoid of people, you could accomplish this.) Next you need to find something at least six inches in diameter and non-boyant to block one of the drains. (That bowling ball might work.) Finally, you need to block the skimmer suction. (Take off the top, remove the basket, and drop a cue ball down there.) Now that you’ve done a couple hundred dollars worth of damage to the pool, you’re all ready to sit down on the open drain. Enjoy.
If, by some freak chance, you do get stuck, scream until a lifeguard turns off the pump.
Seriously, the best way to prevent a child from getting stuck to an open drain, is to watch your children while they play in the kiddie pool. Your average lifeguard has enough to woory about, what with several dozen teenagers playing chicken over there, that old man looking like he’s about to have a heart attack swimming laps, the hot sun, and who the heck stole my ice water? without having to turn his head 180 degrees to keep an eye on the kiddie pool, which is clearly marked “Warning-No Lifeguard On Duty.”
There was a story like this on Great Escapes (British TV program that doesn’t come on anymore, presented by an ex-F1 driver). A little girl sat down on an uncovered suction pipe in a pool in Spain. She had her intestines sucked partially out of her body before her family could get the suction turned off.
Thank you for your information. I am now better informed on the issue of the suction of swimming pools and drains. I never planned on sitting on a drain and I never will. I think it’s safe to save this mystery is solved. The suction of a drain is strong enough to pull out your intestines, but only under certain circumstances.
Thanks to everyone who replied!!
Saint Gut-Free