TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – The possibility of your child being hurt while at a water park is a nightmare many parents may not have thought about before this weekend. KSNT News found out how one local water park monitors their water slides.
The Midwest Health Aquatic Center is home to 5 water slides which tower over you at an impressive 35-feet above the ground. Riding the water slides is usually a fun time until someone gets hurt. Those injuries prompt questions like, who inspects the water slides before the water park opens? The company which builds them, in this case, Avalanche.
“They do initial inspection and we do visuals after that,” David Allacher, the Midwest Health Aquatic Center Supervisor said.
Kansas does not do any inspections of water slides according to the water park designer.
“There is no government body in the state of Kansas which inspects water slides,” the water park designer said.
However, the Aquatics Center Supervisor says they still invest time to make sure the slides are safe.
“You still have checks and balances through all the facilities that you build or you maintain,” Allacher said.
The system of checks and balances is something Aquatics Supervisor David Allacher takes seriously. He and his staff go out and inspect the slides to see if there are any issues with them.
“Most of it is cosmetic that we deal with,” Allacher said.
But there are also other issues that could arise.
“We had some road rash issues that people kept coming in with,” Allacher said.
Allacher said if there is an issue with a slide, like road rash, it’s immediately shut down as a safety precaution. The next step in the process depends on the issue.
“We are having avalanche come back in and we are going to do a little bit of tweaking on it. If it is the mats or if it is the slide, we are determining that right now and then we will move forward,” Allacher said.
Allacher wants people to know safety comes first.
“It’s safe, it’s certified, just come on out and play,” Allacher said.
An employee from Avalanche told KSNT News the Schlitterbahn tragedy is causing the water slide industry to come under scrutiny.