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Water safety

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Aiden and Hermione Kumar and Sophia Acosta play after their swimming lessons at Blacktown Leisure Centre.

The Sydney areas where pools are buckling under demand

Australia’s public pools are under pressure as growing areas struggle with few facilities and ageing infrastructure takes a toll on council budgets.

  • Julie Power

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Ruby with friends Sabrina Santos and Alana Ramshaw enjoy Dawn Fraser Baths.

Sabrina and Alana love their harbour pool. They just want cleaner water

Beachwatch said pollution was unlikely on the public holiday afternoon when the friends had their swim. Yet, Herald testing earlier this month revealed dangerous levels of bacteria on an equally busy hot day.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons and Kayla Olaya
Sydney water quality testing

Revealed: Sydney’s cleanest and dirtiest places to swim

How dog poo on the streets is thwarting efforts to clean up Sydney’s harbour and rivers for swimming.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons, Nick O'Malley and Alyssa Talakovski
Summer drownings spike on Australia Day and New Years Day.

Drownings spike on Australia’s booziest public holidays

Men aged 65 and over were 17 times more likely to get into fatal and non-fatal drowning incidents than women of the same age.

  • Nicholas Osiowy
The City of Stirling’s beach services team performed an unprecedented 374 rescues in December alone, sparking warnings from lifeguards.

Shock for lifeguards as rescues at beaches in Perth’s north soar

The unprecedented number of rescues at these beaches in Perth’s north have lifeguards stunned, as the state continues to grapple with recent drowning deaths.

  • Claire Ottaviano and Sarah Smith
Regulations around inflatable pools are confusing for many people.

Blow-up over ‘confusing’ safety rules for inflatable pools

Many pools sold at major retailers, including blow-up ones that cost as little as $25, require a safety barrier under Victorian laws.

  • Caroline Schelle
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Surgeons are seeing more injuries to women’s reproductive zones due to powerful water jets rupturing their perineum when they fall off the back of the vehicle.

The surge of horrific jet-ski injuries damaging women’s reproductive systems

Surgeons warn that there has been a rise in severe tears caused when passengers fall off the back of a jet-ski, prompting a call for people to wear protective wetsuit pants.

  • Wendy Tuohy
Alexandra Brewster lost her father Robert when a jet-ski hit him while he was swimming in Port Melbourne in 2012.

Almost 13 years after Robert’s death, jet-skis are still a danger at Melbourne’s beaches

As the weather heats up, videos circulate on social media of close encounters between swimmers and jet-skiers. Melbourne councils and community groups worry it will take another tragedy for the laws to change.

  • Rachael Dexter
Emergency workers search for a boy in the Mitchell River near a campground between Dargo and Bairnsdale on Friday afternoon.

Boy drowns in East Gippsland river as caravan fire tragedy rocks small country town

Two drownings and a fatal fire rocked communities across Victoria in the 24 hours to 6pm on Friday.

  • Lachlan Abbott
Emergency services by The Gravel Loader Dive Site on Saturday morning, where a man was declared dead.

Man dies at popular NSW diving site

The Gravel Loader Dive Site is regarded as shallow and gentle.

  • Daniel Lo Surdo and Carrie Fellner

Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/topic/water-safety-1lzg