With Memorial Day just in our rearview mirror, we can safely say that pool season has begun. Families often spend the holiday weekend eating barbecue and enjoying the first of many of the summer’s poolside weekends. Of course, families with small children also acknowledge the need for extra security measures around their pools. According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, at least 148 children drowned in pools or spas last year. The risk presented by backyard pools leads many families to call us for ideas on making their pool areas safer. In this post, we share some of our top security tips to create pool security at home.

We’ll start with a look at how your security system equipment can provide additional pool security. Creating chimes and alerts tied to your door contacts can help alert you to potential pool safety issues. From there, we’ll look at a couple security devices you can add to create even more security and peace of mind. We’ll also examine the benefits of using cameras to monitor your pool area. Finally, we will look at a couple different products you can buy specifically designed for summer pool security. Let’s dive in by focusing on using basic security system equipment to your advantage.

A fenced-in pool with a stone patio.

Receiving an alert when someone opens a door onto a pool deck, or even the pool gate itself, can add a tremendous amount of pool security.

Take Advantage of Alerts and Sensor Monitoring

If you have a security system in place, you already have some basic ways to increase pool security. We can use a couple methods to help accomplish this goal. For starters, any modern security can alert you to open doors in your home. These alerts can take the form of a “dinging” or “chiming” sound. Some alarm systems deliver these alerts in the form of a spoken phrase (such as “kitchen door open”). While just about any alarm system can create these alerts, not all homeowners know how to activate them. Knowing when a child opens the exterior door that leads to your pool can create security and peace of mind. We recommend calling your security company for help activating your system’s door opening alerts.

Additionally, our cellular monitoring customers can receive these alerts on their smart phones. We always recommend cellular dialer monitoring for the most consistent communication between your alarm and the central station. Some cellular dialers, such as ours powered by Alarm.com, also allow for interactive security monitoring. Interactive security monitoring allows you to control your alarm system remotely with a smart phone. Additionally, your Alarm.com dialer will send your phone custom alerts if someone opens certain doors. Exterior doors leading towards pools make great “alert doors.” Now, let’s look at a pool security tip that takes this concept one step further.

Use Wireless Sensors for Precise Pool Monitoring

Creating alerts to monitor existing security contacts can add both peace of mind and safety. Furthermore, adding new contacts to make these alerts more precise can create a new level of security entirely. We touched on this in our post detailing 5 Unconventional Uses for Contact Sensors. Consider installing contact sensors on pool houses or gates that surround your pool. Doing so can give you even more precise knowledge of when you may have a pool security issue. Perhaps you have a young child wandering too close to the water. Or maybe the neighborhood kids have stopped by for an uninvited swim during work hours. Either way, you will want to track access to your pool area. Consider using this security measure hand in hand with our next tip to add even more pool security to your home.

Use Cameras to View Your Pool Remotely

An Alarm.com camera on the side of a house.

Security cameras, such as this model by Alarm.com, can add pool security by monitoring your home’s exterior.

Our post on Yard and Driveway Security discussed some of the security gained from adding outdoor surveillance. In that post, we examined the dual security that cameras can add to your home. For starters, cameras provide a live look-in to your home at all times, as well as a way to review footage of anything that happens around your home. This allows you to check in and ensure that everything runs smoothly in your absence. In some cases, homeowners can use camera footage to help identify potential vandals or burglars. Additionally, we pointed out that cameras themselves act as a crime deterrent. Individuals with less-than-perfect intentions in mind will likely see your surveillance cameras and look for a different target.

Pool owners have even more incentive to add home surveillance. If you have a pool with contact sensors installed nearby, cameras let you follow up your sensor alert with a live look at your pool. Combining these two security measures can pay quick dividends. Additionally, adding Alarm.com cameras to monitor your pool can create an even quicker security response. These cameras can send live video clips to your phone upon detecting motion. Therefore, you can have the peace of mind of knowing that nobody can come near your pool with your knowing. At this point, we’ve looked at some tips for controlling access to your pool area. Now, let’s see how you can add security to your pool in case an accident does occur.

Install Waterproof Panic Devices Near Your Pool

Panic buttons play an important role in any complete home or business security plan. We offer many panic button designs, some of which we detailed in our Panic Button Options for Your Security System. We can program panic buttons to create any type of police, ambulance, or fire department response our customers desire. For pool security purposes, we would generally program panic buttons to call an ambulance. Our waterproof panic buttons can be worn in the form of wristbands or pendants. Elderly residents of a home often wear these panic devices. The same devices that can call for an ambulance response to a slip or fall inside the house will also work to create an added layer of pool security for these individuals.

Homeowners can also hang panic buttons near the sides of a pool. This can allow anyone experiencing difficulty in the water to call for an immediate response. Some homeowners also feel safer if activating these devices creates an interior alarm response. Doing so will alert anyone inside the home that someone has activated the pool alarm. The ability to create both an ambulance response and a quick response from those inside the house can mean the difference between life and death during a potential emergency situation. We’ve looked at several security system-related devices to add pool security to your home. Now, let’s take a look at a few stand-alone solutions to accomplish this goal.

An Optex motion detector and sounder.

Motion detector annunciator systems, such as this model by Optex, can detect motion and create an audible alert several hundred feet away.

Additional Security Equipment to Help Create Pool Security

Whether you have an alarm or not, you can always install additional security products to beef up your pool security. While not pool-specific, many of our customers use annunciator systems to alert them to motion in specific areas. For example, the Optex kit pictured here can alert homeowners to motion in areas in or around the home. Homeowners who work out of their houses often install these sensors in their driveways. This alerts them to the arrival of shipments as delivery trucks pull into their driveways. For pool owners, this technology presents to opportunity to detect motion in or around pools. Installing these sensors on pool decks can create an audio notification if somebody approaches the pool area.

Additionally, many companies create pool-specific security products to alert homeowners to potential pool security breaches. For example, you can buy many varieties of temporary fencing designed to make it harder for small animals and children from falling into an in-ground pool. Other devices detect changes in the water itself to create alerts if someone jumps or falls into your pool. These sensors can float on the water of your pool or be installed underwater, depending on the model. Finally, using high-quality pool covers and pool nets in your pool can help prevent accidents as well.

Putting it all Together

We hope that this post has given you some insights to increase your own pool security this summer. If you have questions about any of the information in this post, we encourage you to contact us. We provide free site surveys for homeowners, and we can assess your home security inside and out. While on site, we will address any concerns you may have. Additionally, we can make some recommendations of our own. If you have a pool, creating a full home security plan must specifically address securing it. Together, we can create a plan to keep you, your family, and your loved ones as safe as possible this summer.