While swimming is a healthy and fun activity for children during their summer break, parents and public pool operators work diligently behind the scenes to ensure youngsters remain safe while in and around the shimmering blue water.

Katie Weber, of Evans City, said she and her husband, Sean, don’t just throw a swimsuit on their two youngsters and head for the pool.

Weber said she takes the extra step of applying reef-friendly sunscreen to Leo and Peyton, both 5, before they go to the pool or water park.

She said although the sunscreen is meant to protect ocean reef species, she uses it on her children because she believes it avoids exposing their skin to the chemicals used in regular sunscreen.

Weber also takes along large bottles of ice water to keep her children hydrated while they swim or run around in the sun.

“I also do snacks that don’t melt,” Weber said.

She lets Leo and Peyton swim and play for one hour, gives them a snack, then spends one more hour at the pool.

“Then the kids are tired,” Weber said. “It’s the perfect amount of play time.”

Lance Welliver, director of the Butler County Parks and Recreation department, said there are steps parents can take to ensure their kids remain safe and healthy when they visit Alameda Waterpark.

Welliver said parents should always ensure their children are wearing sunscreen, regardless of the weather.

“Sometimes we’ll think (that) if it’s overcast it’s not that bad, but you could still get a sunburn,” he said. “That’s in general and not just at the pool.”

He said hydration is very important too, whether kids are at the pool or playing outside in the summer.

Children who do not have water bottles can get water or other drinks at the water park’s concession stand, vending machine or water fountain.

“We have multiple types of drinks,” Welliver said.

Welliver said the large pool at Alameda offers something for children of any age, with recent upgrades enhancing it.

The pool has a zero-entry, or ramp, to enter the pool at one end while at the other is a diving well for older children or proficient swimmers.

The diving well features a new Aqua Rock wall, two diving boards and a new drop slide.

The pool also features the Pirate's Cove Splash Pad, two enclosed tube slides, new picnic tables, umbrellas and a concrete wall for sitting that lines the entrance of the water park.

The splash pad allows the pool’s youngest patrons to get wet and have fun without the danger of them slipping underwater since water on the pad’s floor is only a few inches deep.

Welliver said life jackets can be rented at the pool, which does not permit wearable floaties.

Water park managers do allow noodles and other flotation devices occasionally.

“We have a great venue for (children) to come out and enjoy a lot of activities at the water park,” Welliver said.

He said children ages 5 through 12 who attend the county’s recreational summer camp use the pool each morning, Monday through Friday, before the water park opens for the day.

“They swim and have some fun,” Welliver said. “They like to use the slides.”

Campers who want to play in the deep end have to take a swim test, he said.

“They have to prove they can handle swimming in the deep area to continue doing that,” he said.

Sunscreen is provided to campers if they need it. “Camp counselors will ensure they are sprayed down and ready to go.”

He said everyone should learn to swim so they will be safe around water.

“No matter how old you are, it’s important to know how to do it, because you don’t know what situation you’re going to come into,” Welliver said.

Cindy Caldwell, manager of the pool at EDCO Park in Evans City, said parents might be unaware that they can ask questions about water quality or temperature at any pool. Those include a pool’s disinfection level, which is the amount of chlorine and the pH of the water.

“Chlorine should be between one and three, and we like to keep ours on the higher side,” Caldwell said of the germ-killing additive. “pH should be between 7.2 and 7.8, with 7.4 being optimum because it works with the chlorine to disinfect the pool.”

She said information on swimming pool disinfection rates is available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, www.cdc.gov.

“They have a whole fact sheet on there that talks about healthy swimming,” Caldwell said.

She also uses a special disinfecting product at EDCO that kills MRSA, athlete’s foot, the flu virus and other germs so they don’t get into the pool.

“We spray down our floors in the bathhouse twice a day,” Caldwell said.

She said bathhouses should always be clean to prevent germs from infecting those who swim in the pool.

“If a bathroom looks dirty at a facility, then I think their water is probably going to be dirty, too,” Caldwell said.

She said the best way to keep children safe at the pool is to teach them to swim.

“Get your kids swimming lessons so they can have fun and be safe.”