HOUSTON – A brand-new inspection report from the City of Houston’s Health Department is revealing major violations at a northwest Houston hotel lazy river pool where a young girl died over the weekend.
Inspectors ordered the pool closed on Monday after finding multiple violations, but according to new inspection reports, inspectors returned for almost six hours on Tuesday and found additional violations that may be more closely related to 8-year-old Aliyah Jaico’s death.
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The girl drowned and suffered from mechanical asphyxiation, according to the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“Operator failed to obtain a pre-opening inspection prior to placing the pool into operation after a remodel,” Investigator Curtis Cagle wrote in a three-page inspection of the lazy river.
It’s not clear when the remodel occurred.
“A pool operator is required to submit plans to the Houston Planning Center for major structure and plumbing changes. The Health Department is then notified to review plans for compliance to the pool codes adopted by the city. The pool operator also needs a pre-opening inspection before getting the pool in operation after a remodel,” a Houston Health Department spokesperson wrote in an email to KPRC 2.
According to the report, the pool was not in compliance with federal laws meant to prevent drain entrapment and child drowning in swimming pools.
Inspectors requested Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act compliance documentation for drain covers for two channel drains on the walls and eight wall grates for lazy river flow, according to the report, but the pool operator failed to make any documentation available. That documentation would show the make, model, date of installation, expiration dates, and life span of each over.
Tuesday’s inspection, which lasted from 9:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., found several other issues including:
- On-site approved plans didn’t match on-site construction, including lazy river flow suction, return piping, and feature pump information
- Leisure river flow return piping is a wide circular inlet into the pool and it didn’t have a return cover over the opening
- One suction outlet cover was partially missing from the pipe where search and recovery occurred
Read Tuesday’s full lazy river inspection report.
Inspectors also observed two edges on the lazy river deck that were sharp, according to the report. They also saw fecal matter on the pool deck which they believed to be from a dog.
As part of the follow up on the investigation, Cagle requested “documentation showing the lazy river feature pumps to show they do not exceed the flow rate listed on the wall suction outlet grates.”
The hotel pool operator will also have to submit corrected plans that match what is on site to the Houston Permitting Center for review, provide of a copy of the building permit, ownership verification form, pre-opening document request, and W-9.