It’s Wading Pool Season

Wading pool season is upon us! The Wallingford Playfield wading pool officially opened last week, to less than spectacular weather. This week is looking better – so if you find yourself in need of a refreshing wade or if you are hoping your kids will run themselves silly, head to the playfield between noon and seven p.m. on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

Here’s an interesting tidbit from the Parks’ Department website – one public wading pool uses the same amount of water as 50 private wading pools. So, if we all wade together, we help conserve water! I know in Wallingford there are at least 50 kids per square foot in the wading pool, so I imagine that our little wading pool is making quite the environmental impact along with giving hundreds of kids something to do on a hot day.

And since there are always questions about this, here is the protocol for how the Parks’ Department determines when the wading pools will be open. To be safe though, always call the hotline first (it’s updated by 9:30 am): (206) 684-7796.

We will plan to open the wading pools on sunny days when the temperature is forecast to be 70 degrees or higher. On most days we will fill them half full, which is a 50% water savings…..but on the busiest days they will be filled to the top!

Parks uses the average of temperature forecasts from eight weather websites to determine whether to close. When that average temperature is forecast to be below 70 degrees, Parks makes the decision not to open the wading pools or sprayparks.

And please, follow the posted wading pools rules. You don’t need to be the one whose refusal to put a swim diaper on your kid (even if they are “mostly” potty-trained)  causes the pool to get shut down for the rest of the afternoon. QFC and Kids on 45th are a short walk if you need a swim diaper. And I really don’t need to watch the poor pool guard try to fish kiddie poop out of the wading pool before draining the darn thing. That totally defeats the water conservation part of the equation. Plus it’s just gross. [Additional pool rules can be found here].