Splash, spray parks get new health rules
Lauren Stanforth
Staff writer
The Democrat and Chronicle
(February 10, 2006) - In the wake of one of the nation's largest waterborne parasitic outbreaks in a decade, the state Health Department has finalized regulations that for the first time will ensure health and safety at splash and spray parks.
The regulations were written as a result of a parasitic outbreak at Seneca Lake State Park Sprayground near Geneva in which more than 3,800 people fell ill between June and August 2005 with symptoms of diarrhea, nausea, fever and headache. The parasite cryptosporidium was found in the Sprayground's water tanks and likely infected visitors when they got water from the park's sprayers in their mouths.
Cryptosporidium is a parasite found in human and animal feces. The Health Department now says its investigation concluded that park patrons infected the water. As to what extent the Sprayground's filtration system played a role in the outbreak, state health spokesman Robert Kenny said that a state investigation found the filtration system was inadequate to deal with cryptosporidium.
The new regulations, finalized in January, target spray and splash parks that use recycled water, as opposed to parks that spray fresh water. Seneca Lake State Park's water was recycled.
The state now will require all splash and spray parks to obtain permits from their county health departments, install appropriate filtration systems, put up signs alerting those with diarrhea to keep out of the water and to erect fencing around the area to keep animals out.
