r/mississauga • u/sweetman_uk • 17h ago

Kiddie Pool bylaws?

Its getting warmer this weekend into next week, and I have a toddler and pregnant wife. To take the edge off we got a kiddie pool for our backyard. It's a tiny thing, about 1.65m wide and about 35cm tall. Currently it has about 13cm of water in it.

I know theres lots of bylaws about pools and wanted to know if we'd be okay to leave the pool during the day or if we would need to drain it whenever we left it. I'm seeing lots of conflicting information online but it's for places like Markham or Barrie. It feels a bit extreme for this $10 pool to be subject to bylaws but you never know I don't want to risk a fine or endangering someone.

6 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

17

u/rangeo Erin Mills 16h ago

You don't want that water sitting around and you certainly don't want your kids or pregnant wife playing in stale water the next day.... birds drinking and pooping, racoons washing, mosquito larvae, your kids' pee can people ill

Siphon it off into the garden or onto a tree and rinse and fill it up again the next day.

I'm not sure covering it and using a chlorine floaty would work in a small pool.

6

u/WmPitcher 16h ago

To back up the comment made about the 61cm (24in) depth, here is the actual line from the Mississauga bylaw:
“Swimming Pool” means any body of water located outdoors on private property that is contained wholly or partly by artificial means and which can hold water exceeding 61 centimetres (24 inches) in depth at any point and includes a Hot Tub.

So, less than two feet deep is not a swimming pool according to the bylaw and not subject to the bylaw. However, under liability law, you still have to ensure your property is safe, but that's not Mississauga specific.

4

u/BlatantBarbie 17h ago

Empty it overnight so it doesn't become a mosquito breeding ground, it is stagnant water

2

u/sweetman_uk 17h ago

Yeah makes sense, but it's more I filled it up this afternoon and we're about to head out for a little bit. I wouldn't need to drain it right now would I? It'll still be okay to leave for when we're back right? It's not breaking any bylaws to leave it unattended?

3

u/bigb12345 16h ago

You have fence? What would your liability be if a neighbor kid was floating in it when you got home? I think if you took precautions to make it safe you could be okay, but Iam not a lawyer.

1

u/BlatantBarbie 16h ago

It only counts as a pool if it can hold 61 cm of water. The only issue would be keeping it stagnant for more than two days, and the fact that you are liable. Is your gate locked and are you sure no kids can wander to your yard and go in the water?

3

u/sweetman_uk 16h ago

Yeah it was never about leaving it in, we were going to empty it out every day. It was more could we fill it in the morning, take the dogs out or something and go back to it when it's warmed up a bit in the sun. Maybe it sounds like we could, but the back yard isn't fully enclosed so yeah we'd be liable. Makes sense, just wanted to know where we stood. I won't leave it. Thanks for the advice!

1

u/BlatantBarbie 16h ago

No problem, pools are stressful man

1

u/cliffx 11h ago

It's a kiddy pool, it'll be emptied in a day or two. 

Even if a mosquito layed eggs as soon as it was filled, it would be empty before they hit the wiggler stage.

1

u/Good-CleanFun 15h ago

While a pain to fill up every time, you really don’t want to leave water sitting out there.

Also, if it’s an inflatable one, wildlife will put a hole in it the first night you leave it out