RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — Splash parks are a popular way for families to cool off during the summer months, but few people actually understand what goes into keeping those splash parks safe and sanitary for the whole family.
The Cordova Recreation and Park District gave ABC10 a peek behind the curtain at their White Rock Splash Park facility.
"We just love this water park," said Laura Watson, a mother visiting the park with her kids Jace and Tyla. "It's so much fun. We love it. The kids love coming, and it's a great day to come. There's actually a lot of water parks in Rancho Cordova, and so we kind of try to hit them all up at least once in the summer."
She was surprised to learn all the steps that the park district takes to ensure safety.
Patrick Larking, the General Manager for the Cordova Recreation and Park District, said all of their parks use recycled water filtered through high speed sand filters and an ultra violet light system.
Together, this system kills 99.9 percent of bacteria. A minimum 3.0 chlorine level is also used to as an extra safety measure.
"This is what we're obligated to do by state law as well as OSHA," said Larking. "But, also we do care. We care a lot about making sure that this is - first - clean [and] safe, and we're monitoring it seven days a week."
Every day, sand debris is blown off park equipment, and everything is checked by staff. OSHA even inspects the park twice a year, and the state health department inspects the park twice a season.
On top of all the inspections, the park also gets pressure washed multiple times per year.
Aya Akiyama, who was also visiting the park Friday, was impressed with the park district's attention to detail.
"That means a great deal actually," admitted Akiyama. "It's something you always think about, especially like water quality and things like that. So, yeah, I'm glad that it's something that they're monitoring closely."